It Started With A Rose
by Bree In Diamonds
Summary: Cuddy finds a rose and a letter in her mailbox, written by someone that makes himself out to be the perfect man. When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. A smitten Cuddy falls for him..and she falls hard
1. Too Good To Be True

**It Started With A Rose**

**Rating - T (for now. M will follow...) **

**Pairing - Hint of Huddy presently, more to follow**

**Takes place immediately after the last episode, Big Baby. Cuddy finds romance in an anonymous stranger who only communicates through letters. He appears to be too good to be true, and when it's too good to be true, it usually is. She'll wish they never met.**

**I thought I'd take a stab at something new here. I was standing in a post office a couple days ago and this just hit me! Eventually this will be a Huddy, so stick around Huddy fans!**

**Enjoy :)**

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If only she knew the truth behind those letters, she never would've gotten involved. Whoever sent them was very familiar with Lisa Cuddy's life. He knew that Cuddy was a workaholic, but still wanted to find time for romance. In fact, when not at work, she would involve herself with sappy romance novels and late night TV love movies on Lifetime when her baby was asleep. The stranger knew this about her when no one else did. At first, the letters were sweet, caring, and non-threatening. He put every ounce of care into those letters to be sure he wouldn't scare her away. He added roses and flowers into the batch to try to win her over. It worked. After awhile, Cuddy was smitten over this anonymous stranger. He seemed almost too good to be true, and usually when that is the case, they really are too good to be true. Cuddy found herself wrapped up in something that she couldn't get out of. Her obsession for someone she didn't know had taken over her life, bringing her inner feelings out into the open. She no longer had the willpower to control those deep, inner desires that were locked up all these years. You know the feeling…your palms start sweating, your heart beats louder, your breath gets caught in your throat…All signs of infatuated love with that special person, only you know who you're in love with.

The anonymous stranger she knew as Brendan knew he had Lisa in the palm of his hand. Now he shows his true colors. He wouldn't be happy until he saw his Lisa lose everything, one by one. Come to find out, he wasn't there to love her; he was there to destroy her.

**one month earlier**

"Bye, my sweet girl," Cuddy said, kissing the top of Rachel's head right before she dashed out the door.

Being a stay at home mom didn't work as well as she hoped. It was on two parts—one, she couldn't stay away from work, and two—she couldn't stay away from House. Cameron did a great job with Cuddy's day-to-day responsibilities, but when it came to House, as much as she liked to think she was, she didn't know how to handle him. Maybe it was a bad idea putting her in charge. Good thing she quit. It helped Cuddy by not having to fire her.

"Do you want me to get the mail?" Cuddy's new nanny asked as she lightly bounced a crying Rachel in her arms.

"No, I'll grab it on my way out, hon, thanks," Cuddy said, grasping her briefcase by the handles and rushing out the door.

Her stress was magnified this morning. It was her second day back and already she could feel her hair frizz up, due to the stress. How could she balance work and raising a baby? How could she even be _approved_ knowing she works around the clock and is a single mom? Leaving babies with nannies is what DSS frowns on in general, never mind leaving a foster baby with a nanny! She was one lucky lady that they let this slide.

Cuddy reached her mailbox. She only had one normal-sized letter in it as opposed to the piles of junk mail and bills she always gets. She looked at the front of the envelope. It only had her name on it. Cuddy did find it odd, but didn't have the time to stand around and question it. She tucked her briefcase under her arm and used her free hand to rip open the top while walking to her car.

Lisa,

You don't know me. I'm new to the area and don't know many people yet. I know what you're thinking—so why doesn't this guy knock on my door instead of leaving me a letter? I'll tell you why, Lisa. I'm shy. I introduce myself better in writing. I also tend to express myself easier through the use of words on paper rather than verbal communication. That, and I know you're too busy to set up a coffee date and get to know your new neighbors. Why don't we just write to one another instead for the time being? We'll meet eventually when you're not too busy. Leave the letter in your mailbox. Hope to hear from you soon.

Cuddy frowned the entire time. Who was this creep? She crinkled up the letter and tossed it into her backseat before driving off. She had more important things to worry about.

Cuddy didn't know it, but the author of the very letter she just read had watched her in the shadows. He watched her walk out of her house, get the letter from the mailbox, read it in the car, and drive off. He also took notice of the frown on her face while she read it and became angry when she crinkled it up.

He wasn't giving up. He had to have her.

There were brief moments when Cuddy was in her office that she was able to work and get things done without House bothering her. She had a stack of papers she had to go through, read, and sign. That was only a sliver of what she had to complete today, but did so in peace. It gave her time to think. She scribbled her signature on the bottom of a multiple-paged chart and set it aside with a sigh.

While reaching for the next one, she remembered the letter she got this morning. Maybe she was a little too forward with wrinkling it up, but that was strange how it was the only letter in her mailbox, seeing as though her mail comes around eight o'clock every morning and she left at nine today. Never does she not get any mail. Has this guy been stealing it? Who was she dealing with here?

Cuddy shook the thoughts from her mind and had to reread the page her eyes just scanned. That's ridiculous to think someone would steal her mail and leave one of their own. And a little creepy.

Should she write back and leave it in her own mailbox as instructed? Maybe she should, that way she could keep an eye out to see who it is if he comes by to get it. If he didn't want to be seen, he'd know a time she wouldn't be watching and then come to grab it.

It is possible she was reading too much into it. He was probably just another ordinary man who wanted to get to know his neighbors. With her being so busy lately, the fact that she had a new neighbor would be news to her. It's not entirely unheard of that new neighbors would try to familiarize themselves within the area and get to know everyone.

Dammit! Cuddy had to reread the same page three times now because her mind was somewhere else. She couldn't push the letter out of her head, regardless of how hard she tried to do so. It's been a while since she interacted with someone outside of work. That jerk House didn't seem to want to go any further than the one kiss. She couldn't wait for him forever. She gave him many chances and many hints that she wanted to try exploring a relationship with him. He's a self-righteous ass all the way down to the core and that's the type that turns Cuddy off, but it fit him. If he was anything else, she didn't think she would've fallen for him. She's always liked him, but because of the kiss, she liked him more. She's done everything except pin him to the wall and tell him it's now or never.

Cuddy gave up on the chart. She couldn't focus. First, it was the letter, and then it was House. Is she really that romantically deprived or does she feel connected to people that are mysterious? House is the king of all things mysterious. Not even the best shrink in the world could get into his head.

Cuddy was interrupted when Sir Righteous himself walked in, pushing the door open with his cane.

"Busy…" Cuddy mumbled, scribbling her name on the chart anyway, not feeling like trying to read it for a fourth time.

"Need to remove a kid's arm," he said bluntly and then turned to leave when he wasn't getting any response from her. "Okay, thanks, that was easy."

"Hold it," Cuddy said, tossing her pen down. "You're not removing anything."

"Such a killjoy. I liked it better when Cameron was you."

"No you didn't." Cuddy sat back into her chair and folded her hands on her lap. "You made her miserable because you wanted me back."

House scoffed. "I don't want any part of you now that you have that kid."

Cuddy's face fell serious. House made it sound like a joke, but Cuddy knew different. He never says anything he doesn't mean. His jokes are covers for what he really feels.

"Gee, House, I didn't know I was able to have a choice between the two. Sorry, but I like my babies around the age of infancy, not starting off at forty-four."

"Right, so anyway." He tapped the ground with the bottom of his cane, "the arm removal, mommy?"

"There is no arm removal, House. You just came in here to bother me with the lack of nothing better to do. I'm up to my ears in chart reviews alone and I can't be bothered. Go work in the clinic if you don't have a patient." She waved him off.

"But _moooom_," he whined.

"House, I'm serious."

"So am I. I'm not going to the clinic. Ever since you got that kid, you're no fun anymore." He left after that. Cuddy let out the long sigh she was keeping in. As long as he wasn't there bothering her, she didn't care what he did.

He would make her old before her time. It's like having another Rachel at home, only this one can talk!

Avoiding House was easy for the rest of the day. Actually, he did most of the avoiding. He fell asleep in the clinic for almost his entire shift, leaving his ducklings to do the work. Cuddy didn't care. As long as he was out of her hair, she didn't care what he was doing.

Cuddy didn't stay nearly as long as she usually does. She made a strict nine to five schedule for the time being so she could take care of Rachel.

Pulling up to her driveway, she noticed the flag was up on her mailbox again. Since the mail didn't come twice in the same day, she knew it was from her anonymous new neighbor, or so he claims to be.

Cuddy looked around, expecting to see someone watching her as she walked to the mailbox at the end of the driveway. She opened the flap, and sure enough, there was another envelope in there, addressed to her. There was also a single red rose attached.

"That's persistence," Cuddy muttered, looking at the front of the envelope that had her first name only on it. She didn't read it until she was inside. She set it down on the hall table, along with her briefcase and purse. Her first priority was relieving the nanny so she could get changed and play with Rachel before feeding time.

After the nanny left, Cuddy dressed herself in casual clothing and woke Rachel up from her nap. Using her baby voice, which is becoming more and more natural to her, she picked a sleepy Rachel up into her arms and held her close with a gentle rocking motion. Rachel looked up at Cuddy with her big blue eyes as she was being rocked. Cuddy smiled down at her infant. She didn't know what happened the other day, but she went from not feeling anything towards her baby to all of a sudden feeling as if she were at the top of the world. A big reason for that is because she's always wanted to give birth to her own baby. She couldn't bond with Rachel because she knew that if she did, she would have to give up the hopes that someday she would have her own baby. It's the only explanation she could come up with to why she wasn't bonding with her. She wasn't hormonal, or sleep deprived. Her thoughts were rational.

But that was in the past. Every time Rachel smiled at her, Cuddy's heart would flutter. She was meant to have this baby and kicked herself mentally for almost giving up the chance. She felt she could do anything now. Maybe that instruction booklet on how to be a mother was imprinted on her genes after all.

Cuddy took Rachel into the kitchen to warm up her bottle.

"Are you still tired?" Cuddy asked her half-sleeping infant in a baby voice. She used her free hand to brush the backs of her fingers gently across Rachel's cheek. "Is mommy keeping you awake? You have to stay up, because if you fall asleep now, you'll wake up and want to eat when it's time to sleep."

Cuddy didn't know how it hit her, but she suddenly remembered the note on the hall table. She set Rachel down into her self-rocking baby seat and went to fetch the letter. The handwriting looked the same, so she assumed it was from the same guy. She ripped open the top and pulled out a normal college ruled piece of paper.

Lisa,

Do you like the rose? I heard it's your favorite flower, besides orchids, but I couldn't find those around here in the wintertime. I hope I didn't scare you this morning when I sent the first note. I realized I was being too forward with an anonymous note out of the blue. My name's Brendan and I'm thirty-nine years old. I'm single, but I don't live alone. I have a dog named Harvey, who is a Siberian husky and perhaps the best friend anyone could ever have. I would like to get to know more about you if you're not too busy. I know you're a Dean of Medicine, so your time is strictly limited. Since you already made it big, you might not have hopes and dreams for the future. But if you do, I would love to know about them. Did I say love? There I go with being forward again. I'm sorry. If you write back tonight, you'll have a response from me tomorrow and another present in your mailbox.

Goodnight,

Brendan

Cuddy had a smile on her face when she was through reading the note. Someone went to all that trouble to find out who she was and what she did for a living. Why? She's not really that important. At least she never figured herself to be. She hasn't had a date in a while, a _very_ long while, and her sex life was virtually imaginary. No one's taken an interest in her. To everyone else, she was just Lisa Cuddy, but to Brennan, she was somebody. Whether he was a creep or not, that would be determined later. Why he won't just come up to her door and knock was also another mystery. He could be a gentleman and have her busy schedule in mind when he made the decision to just contact her by mail.

Right now, Cuddy could use some excitement in her life. It's been far too long. And waiting for House to get his head out of his ass was taking too long also. She didn't want to wait for him anymore. If something could come out of this, she was willing to give it a shot.

Cuddy took the rose into her hand and smelt it. It smelt so beautiful, as if it was just freshly picked this morning.

Rereading the note, she walked back into the kitchen to retrieve Rachel's bottle. She set the note and the rose down so she could pick Rachel up to feed her.

"Who are you, Brendan?" Cuddy asked aloud to the letter. "Why do you seem to good to be true?"

There was not much difference between this letter and the last letter, other than a brief introduction of himself. Evidently that made all the difference in the world to Cuddy. And the bottom of the note actually had an end to it, followed by his name. The other letter stopped at the body paragraph, making it look too informal. This one looks as if there was much more thought put into it. Not to mention there was a rose attached to it.

How did he know that was her favorite flower? She had to write back to him.

She took Rachel with her into the living room and supported her with one hand while she reached into the desk and pulled out her vanilla and tan stationary set. She never had a reason to use this before, for it was still sealed. Using one hand, she peeled back the circular stickers sealing the top to the bottom and separated the two. Questions that she wanted to ask him filled her head. How did he know her? That was question one.

"I'm sorry, baby, I'm going to have to put you down, okay?" she said to Rachel, setting her down on the couch when the two made their way over there. She set Rachel's bottle down on the coffee table in front of her and then stepped to writing.

Brendan,

You seem fairly involved with my life and I hardly know you. How do you know me? How did you know that my favorite flower is a rose? Forgive me for thinking that this conversation you started sounds a little weird. I feel like you're stalking me, but in a way, I feel you're not. And yes, even though I have a job I love and the baby I always wanted, I still have hopes and dreams for the future. I hope—

Cuddy stopped herself there. Why is she telling a random stranger her hopes and dreams? She frowned at the note. It was good up until she started talking about that. Is she really starving for excitement in her life to be resorting to this? Granted, Brendan did seem nice the second time around.

Cuddy shrugged it off and finished the note. What's the worst that could happen? Besides, she had to hurry and finish it, for Rachel started getting finicky. She wanted to eat.

Cuddy sealed up the letter and took her baby back into her arms.

"I'm sorry, sweet girl," she said and went back to feeding her.

Across the street, a soon to be familiar face was peeking in, past the open window and setting his eye on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She would be his soon enough.

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**What do you think? Like I said, this was an impromptu idea I had a couple days ago. Anyone familiar with The Island knows that I don't make my stories a bore! Or at least I try not to. Review and let me know! :)**


	2. Life's Too Short

**Thanks for the reviews, guys! For being such an impromptu story idea, I'm glad it caught on nicely :)**

**Enjoy :)**

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"This is crazy. Do you really expect there to be a note in the mailbox?" Cuddy asked herself in the mirror as she put her earrings in the next morning to get ready for work.

She would've answered herself if she didn't hear the front door being knocked on. It was her nanny. She was late, which was never good. Cuddy slipped her feet into her heeled shoes and stepped out to let her nanny in.

"I found this on the doorstep," she said, bearing a small frown, handing Cuddy an identical red rose to the one she got yesterday.

Cuddy took the fully bloomed flower, smiling small. "Secret admirer," she said, which wasn't too far from the truth.

She finished getting ready and left the house five minutes later, making her a total of forty-five minutes late. Good thing she didn't have a boss to try to impress.

The red flag was up on her mailbox at the end of the driveway. With a smile, she went to fetch the mail, wondering if Brendan had sent her a letter. Okay, so she should be creeped out. Any normal person would be. If the notes kept coming, they would call the police and file reports a mile long. They would do anything to keep this person away. Was Cuddy really that lonely to subject herself to something like this? What if he was a predator or something? He presented himself to be a sweet guy, but they all do in the beginning, and then they turn into something completely unexpected.

Cuddy felt a pang of disappointment when there wasn't a letter from Brendan in her mailbox that morning. However, the one she put in there last night was gone, so he must've gotten it. Why didn't he write back? Was it just a game to see if he could get her to write to him? Why send her two notes and flowers just to get her to respond and then stop?

"Okay, Lisa, relax," she said as her mind thought up so many unanswered questions. "You are hugely overreacting over nothing and it definitely doesn't suit you. Just get to work."

She took the rest of her mail to work with her, planning to read it later. She turned her radio on when she got into the car, but didn't pay attention to a single song on there the entire way to the hospital. Her mind was fixed on Brendan. What was he like? Cuddy liked the mysterious type. It was nice every now and then to meet a guy that she couldn't read like a book. A guy that kept her guessing and surprised her at times was good. Someone she had all figured out is fun in the beginning, but gets boring after awhile. Cuddy liked the challenge and Brendan was full of them. She really got into this.

Or she just really needed a life that didn't involve the hospital. She already took a big step and finally got the baby she always wanted, now it was time to find the significant other she always wanted. For some reason, that was such an extremely out of reach thing for Cuddy. She couldn't even remember the last time she was on a date with someone. Don what's-his-face that owned Eastern Lube was the closest thing she remembered and that was two years ago! If the last date was that long ago, then the last time she had sex…Just put it this way, no normal human being can go that long without sex. It was impossible. Cuddy made celibacy look so very easy. It helps when there is a career involved that leaves no time for dating.

Speaking of her job, Cuddy just about nearly hit the floor when she found how much paperwork had piled up at the nurse's station in just the morning alone!

"Pileup on the highway," informed Brenda Previn when Cuddy questioned the mounds of charts she was given. "Fuel truck going almost eighty popped a tire and tipped instantly, falling on a minivan and causing a twenty car pileup to boot. The ER is jammed."

Cuddy groaned. "Fantastic. That's just great. I don't have time for paperwork; I have to go to the ER!"

Not doing the paperwork now, she'll have to do it later, which means she won't get out of here until late. She couldn't leave until it was done.

Cuddy slipped into her office if to have just one moment away from everything. Or so she thought. She didn't expect to see House sitting at her computer when she walked in and it scared her a bit. A small cry escaped her lips.

"What are you doing in here?!" she asked, not seeing him when she opened the doors, for the blinds were down.

"The porn looks better on your screen," he said and then widened his eyes at the screen. "Now _those_ boobs are definitely better than yours. You have some competition after all."

"Get out," Cuddy said, peeling off her jacket and donning her lab coat. "Get to the ER right now."

"Why are you late today?" he asked, completely ignoring her last request. "I'm here before you again." He eyed her at the corner of his eye. "Late night? You seeing someone?"

Cuddy's cheeks reddened. "Yeah, in all my spare time."

"You're blushing," he pointed out.

"I am not," she said, hiding her face.

House smirked. "Yes you are…Who is he?"

"I'm not seeing anyone, House!" she said, sending him a glare. "And even if I was, it's none of your business."

House stood. "That usually means a yes." He limped around to the front of her desk. "Who is he?" he repeated relentlessly.

"Go to the ER," Cuddy demanded, not faltering.

"I will go to the ER if you tell me who you're seeing," he said, stepping closer to her. Obviously this was bothering him.

She sighed, turning her head to meet his eyes. "I just got a baby; do you really think I have time to date? If I didn't before, I definitely don't now."

House's eyes narrowed. He wasn't buying it. "See, I know you. I know you so well that I know when you're even _thinking_ of dating. So if you're not dating now, there is someone in your life you're _planning_ to date. Who is it? Wilson? You want the father figure type in your life?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes and left her office. House followed on her heels.

"Oh come on, I'm sure he's not so bad. If you ask him out, I'm sure he'll say yes. It's been a while since Amber and, well, let's face it, he can't stay away from you now that you have that kid. He's over your house more than any guys in the past put together."

"House…" Cuddy muttered in her classic warning voice.

"You guys would make a cute couple."

Both of them stepped into the elevator. "You know what I think?" Cuddy asked, folding her arms once the proper button was pushed. "I think you're jealous of the attention Wilson is giving me, because you wish it was you giving it instead, only you don't know how to do it."

House scoffed. "Oh, yeah, you got me figured out there. It's a complete turn-on knowing you have a crying, puking infant at home and it makes me want you oh so much more."

"Then why are you following me?"

"To bother you. It's working, right?" He had to ask that when the smile remained on Cuddy's face. She's been grinning ever since they stepped onto the elevator.

Cuddy shook her head. "You're not bothering me. You do realize that once you follow me into the ER, there's no turning back, right?"

House shrugged, withdrawing his Vicodin from his pants pocket. "No biggie. I'll just pull up a chair and watch that ass of yours zoom from one patient to the next." He popped two pills into his mouth.

Cuddy frowned at the dosage, but didn't say anything. "Right…You're not jealous at all."

He continued to follow her. "So what has he done for you? Send you flowers? Write beautiful little love notes? Take you out to more plays?"

"We shared my bed, House, you happy now?"

That caused his eyes to widen a few extra centimeters, even though she sounded sarcastic. "Seriously?"

"Last week when he came over to help me see that I really wanted to be a mom, we somehow managed to make it to the bedroom. Don't ask how it happened, because I don't even know."

"You were weak and he took advantage of you! That bastard," he said sarcastically. "I'll wring his neck when I see him next."

Cuddy chuckled. "Come on, House, like I would sleep with Wilson." They stepped up to the swinging doors that lead into the ER. Cuddy pressed both hands up against it and looked up at House before entering. "I'm still waiting for my knight in shining armor," she whispered in somewhat of an alluring voice and slipped him a smile before disappearing into the ER.

House watched her go with wide eyes. Was she talking about him? She never looked back at him and then disappeared around the corner altogether.

Maybe it was time to do something about it. Life is too short.

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Cuddy was in the ER for twelve hours straight bandaging up patients, healing burn wounds, dealing with fussy children while their parents were being mended, and the worst of all, the ER was vastly understaffed. There were only a handful of nurses, including Cameron, and more patients poured through the door by the minute. Some patients would be there for hours before one of them got to seeing them. Cuddy never felt herself this stressed before, and knowing she had a pile of paperwork waiting for her upstairs didn't make her mood any better.

When the traffic finally slowed down, she met up with Cameron, who was at the counter, filling out a chart. The two hardly spoke all day. They didn't have the time.

"How do you do it?" Cuddy asked.

Cameron, who was still going strong and not showing any signs of tiredness whatsoever, looked up to her boss questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"Work down here for hours without taking a break."

Cameron laughed quietly and turned back to her chart. "If I take a break, I'll never find the motivation to come back."

"Well, how about now?"

Cameron glanced up at her.

"Things are slowing down and it is way past the end of your shift."

Cameron smiled sympathetically. "I can't. I'm sorry. There's too much left I have to do here before I leave."

"As your boss, I firmly insist. Besides…there's something I want to talk to you about."

Cameron drew her brows together. Since when did Cuddy ever want to talk to her about anything? Unless it was work related. Did she do something wrong? Cameron is known not to be perfect, maybe she slipped up and didn't realize it. Cuddy didn't sound upset. She sounded more tired than anything.

"Um…okay." Cameron closed the charts and handed them to a nurse at the counter.

Cuddy lead the way out. Cameron felt nervous all of a sudden, like she was being called to the principal's office on the first day of school. She wanted to ask if it was something she did. Ever since Cuddy let Cameron have her job, the two have gotten a little closer. For the past five years, they barely talked unless it was about a patient. Cuddy never asked her to take a break with her before. If anything, the two firmly ignored one another. Cameron didn't like Cuddy and Cuddy was pretty sure Cameron didn't like her, judging on how the tension in the room seemed to cook up every time the two were in the same area together.

"Did something happen?" Cameron asked, walking beside Cuddy. She had to know.

Cuddy shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that."

Cameron chuckled faintly when Cuddy didn't respond after that. "You're making me nervous."

"It's about me," Cuddy clarified. "I want your opinion on something."

"O-kay," Cameron said, bringing her brows together. "What?"

Since the hallways were fairly much vacant at this hour, Cuddy started the conversation up to the lounge instead of waiting until they got there. She didn't want anyone to know about this, especially with this hospital being a rumor mill.

"I'm only telling you this. You're the only one besides me that knows, so if anyone finds out, I know it was from you."

Cameron was worried. Was something wrong with Cuddy?

"I won't say a word," she said, voice full of concern. "I promise. Are you okay?"

"I've been receiving letters."

Cameron let a nurse pass by in the hall before continuing. "What kind of letters?" she asked in a low voice, thinking it was something bad by the way Cuddy remained so quiet about it.

"They're from a guy that claims to be my new neighbor, even though I haven't heard from my neighbors or anyone else saying there was a new guy town. My next-door neighbor, Lucille, is the worst gossiper on the street. She notifies everyone of the littlest things. Everyone on the block knew I had a baby that same morning I brought Rachel home and I haven't even heard from her that someone moved in."

They entered the lounge down the hall. It was empty. The two of them sat on the couch, side by side.

"Okay…so you've been receiving letters from someone who claims he's your neighbor, but because this Lucille lady hasn't seen him, he's…not?"

Cameron was a little lost.

"He could exist, but believe me when I tell you that Lucille has her nose out the window constantly. Every time a car drives by, she looks up to see who it is. She'll sit out in her driveway with her poodle for hours just so see what everyone else is doing. If I had a new neighbor, she would know and tell everyone. He's not my neighbor."

Cameron was even more confused now. "So where are the letters coming from?"

"I don't know!" Cuddy cried, a little louder than she expected. "There was one in my mailbox yesterday when I came into work. It was vague, and a little creepy."

"What did it say? Was it addressed to you?"

Cuddy nodded. "That's what caught my attention. It didn't have my address on it or anything, not even a stamp, so whoever Brendan is, he put it in there himself. And then when I got home, there was another note in the mailbox and it had a rose attached to it."

Cameron felt her skin start to crawl. "Okay, you're creeping me out."

Cuddy's eyes went wide. "Yeah, that's what happened to me at first! His first note told me to write back because he's too shy to meet me in person. I didn't have any intention of doing so. But his second note was much more charming." A small smile crept onto her face. "And this morning there was a rose at my doorstep. He was so nice and I don't know if it's just me, but the way his words were written…asking me about my hopes and dreams…I just felt like I connected with him."

Cameron definitely didn't share her smile. She placed her hand over Cuddy's lower arm, face drowning with concern. "Lisa, please tell me you didn't write back."

"I did last night."

"The guy's a stalker!" Cameron cried. "How could you of all people do something that stupid?"

Cuddy looked somewhat insulted at Cameron's blunt tone. "I just wanted your opinion, Dr. Cameron, not to be shouted at."

"Well what did you expect? You willingly received notes and flowers from some guy you don't even know! Are you really that lonely?"

Cuddy's jaw dropped. She stood up. "Okay, I can see this isn't going anywhere."

"You wanted my opinion, Lisa. I gave it to you. You're making a mistake if you give into this guy. And if you think this is going to go untold, you're wrong."

Cuddy spun to her, a cross look spreading over her face, one that Cameron never saw before. Cuddy pointed to her. "If you tell anyone, even so much as one person, Dr. Cameron, I will fire you. I told you this because I thought I could trust you."

"You're life could be in danger and you want me to just ignore it? I can't do that!"

"You better if you like your job. I'm not kidding either."

Cameron knew Cuddy well enough to know that she wouldn't fire her over something like this, but Cameron vowed she wouldn't say anything until she knew for sure what Cuddy was up against.

Cuddy was trusting her with a big thing. Did she really think she would find that accepting notes from a stranger was okay?

"You told me this for a reason," Cameron said, following her. "You wanted me to tell you responding to him was okay?"

"You know what, forget I said anything. Go back to work."

Cuddy walked the opposite way. Cameron lingered in the hall for a moment, watching Cuddy leave. Her heart sank. What was she getting involved with? Maybe this Brendan guy would turn out to be a great person, but who leaves notes instead of introducing themselves in person? What was he trying to get at? And why did Cuddy feel the need to tell her this? Something wasn't right with this guy.

Over the course of the past week, Cameron felt herself growing more attached to Cuddy than she ever has in the past. Cuddy must feel the same way, otherwise she never would've told her about this.

When Cuddy was out of sight, Cameron spun around and headed back to the ER to finish up the charts and head home.

-----------------

Cuddy was angry with herself. Why did she tell Cameron? She knew she would oppose. Cameron was just so virtuous anyway. Sometimes too much for her own good. She might as well have told House and got the reaction she was looking for. House would be the only one telling her to go for it. Maybe that's what she hoped to gain by telling Cameron. She wanted someone to tell her it was okay and that Brendan really isn't a creep. She needed reassurance.

Cuddy took her paperwork home with her that night. She already had her nanny stay overtime. So much for nine to five.

Driving down her street, she immediately stared ahead, waiting for her mailbox to come into view. If the flag was up, Brendan wrote back. When she saw the flag raised, she knew it was because of him. Her heart leapt. A smile spread across her face.

Forgetting about Cameron's concerns and forgetting about everything in general, she opened the mailbox and peeked inside. There was a letter and another rose. Smile remaining, she extracted the two items and closed the mailbox. She found herself not being able to wait to read what he had to say today.

Cuddy dismissed the nanny when she got in. Since it was past nine o'clock, Rachel was already fed and put down to bed for the night, leaving Cuddy alone to do her thing. She quickly dressed for bed and then retrieved the letter and the rose. So far, she had three beautiful roses to add to her collection on the windowsill in her kitchen.

She took a seat at the kitchen table after adding the rose and opened the letter. It was almost a page long this time.

Dear Lisa,

I'm sorry I didn't get the letter to you in time this morning before you left for work. With moving into my new home, last night was a little crazy. I do hope you found the rose satisfactory though. In answering your question on how I knew you liked roses, I talked to some of your neighbors when I met them. They said you plant them every year around the edge of your fences. And I know your next question—why do I see them in person and not you? I find it rather…mysterious this way. The more mysterious I am, the more you'll be into me. I know your friends must think I'm a little weird and advised against this, but heck, what do you have to lose by sending letters? It's safer than a phone call or me showing up at your doorstep, right? Just think of me as your pen pal, but one that sends small gifts along with it.

I enjoyed reading the letter you wrote to me last night. I admire your strength to go forth with your hopes and dreams. I've always wanted a family myself. Unfortunately, I haven't been lucky in the significant other department either. And the only babies I see are ones being taken for walks in the park or on the _Pampers_ commercials. But you're very lucky to have gotten the baby of your dreams. I bet Rachel's beautiful. I hope to meet her someday if I'm ever privileged enough to meet you. I don't want to rush anything. I want you to be comfortable with the idea first. Looking forward to your response.

Always,

Brendan

There was a smile on Cuddy's face the entire time. She knew the feeling inside her when she liked someone, and she definitely liked Brendan. She liked the mysteriousness about him.

Getting up, she fetched her stationary and sat back on the couch to write him back. She wasted no time this time.

Dear Brendan,

I told one of my employees about the notes today. She freaked out and told me to stop because you sounded like a stalker. I told her she was crazy. I like you. It's been a long time since I've been with someone and not that I'm writing back to you because I'm desperate or anything like that, I just need more excitement in my life. I love the pen pal idea you have. It's good for now, just until we know more about one another. If this is good for you, it's fine with me. You made me realize that there is more to life than work. Getting Rachel helped with that vacant part of my life, but you helped the other half. Sorry if I'm sounding too mushy, but I swear I'm starting to feel like a teenager again with these letters. Tell me more about yourself. Where did you grow up? What foods do you like? Are you close to your family? What do you do for a living? I lived in Boston, Massachusetts for some of my early years, then I moved to New Jersey to spend my childhood. I went to Michigan to become a doctor and some years later winded up with being the Dean of Medicine, although it's just a fancy title for being a babysitter to one of my employees. It's like I had a child all along! Too bad he didn't warm up to babies. Rachel would have a playmate. He makes me want to tear my hair out, but I guess that deep down, he's a great guy.

Thank you again for the wonderful roses. I have an idea—there are twelve roses in a dozen. How about after the twelfth rose, we meet face to face? I'm ready now, but I like having something to look forward to when I wake up every morning and go to bed every night. For the first time in my life, I feel it's not all about work. I like having this side of me back again.

Always,

Lisa

Cuddy sealed the note inside the stationary, wishing she had a little gift to give him in thanks for the flowers. She hoped he would agree to her idea with the roses. He sent her three so far. If he agreed to do it her way, all he had to do was send her nine more and they would meet.

She walked outside hurriedly in the cold to put the letter in the mailbox and raise the flag. After that, she jogged back into her house to get warm. Lately, it's been so cold outside. Everything was practically covered in ice in New England and some of the neighboring states. Some states were so slammed with ice that they didn't have power for a month! Cuddy was thankful New Jersey wasn't one of them.

She sat back on the couch and picked up the wonderful stack of paperwork she brought home with her. Most of them required her reading, just like before, but her mind wouldn't allow her to focus. Once again, she was thinking about Brendan. She also thought about House. He wouldn't let it go today with the fact that she was glowing when she walked into the hospital, what would he do if he found out she was actually seeing someone? Would that get him to finally confess his undying love for her?

Cuddy had to question her motives. Was she doing this to make House notice her? Cuddy was tired of waiting for him. Life is too short and being forty-three and not getting any younger, she had to do something. She couldn't keep moving from side to side forever.

Cuddy decided she would continue to interact with Brendan. If things worked out between them, she would finally acquire that missing piece of her life she thought died years ago. If it didn't work out…she could just stop talking to him.

If only it was that easy.

------------------

**What do you think? Let me know! Thanks for reading! :)**


	3. The Heart Doesn't Lie

**Thanks guys for the great reviews! **

**Enjoy :)**

---------------

Cuddy had a dream that night about Brendan. It felt so real. Her mind made up a face for him, because she hasn't actually seen it yet. It was their first date. He picked her up in a flashy car that had all the neighbors, especially Lucille, out on the front lawns and looking over. Brendan handed Cuddy a bouquet of a dozen red roses. It was rather quick from there, because it jumped from Cuddy thanking him for the roses to having dinner with him in this restaurant she didn't recognize. They were talking something about a book that he was writing and how she influenced his main character. Cuddy found herself proud that he would think so highly of her like that.

She liked Brendan. She _really_ liked him. Even in her dream did he make her feel like a woman. He placed his hand over hers on their small table. She remembered clearly looking into his deep, green eyes as he told her he liked her. She felt her body tingle.

And then she woke up to her alarm clock at eight o'clock. She was disappointed the dream was over, for she remembered it as clear as day when she woke up, but didn't give it much thought as she immediately fled from her room to look out the bay window to see if her flag was raised. And it was.

Cuddy felt her mood lift just by the sight of the flag alone. She felt that nothing could ruin her day.

Cuddy went about her morning regimen and was ready to go by nine. She hurried, desperately wanting to see what Brendan wrote today.

"You have another rose on the doorstep," Cuddy's nanny said, coming into the house just as Cuddy pulled her keys out of her purse.

Cuddy accepted it graciously, automatically smelling it. It smelt as sweet as the last three she got.

"Secret admirer?" her nanny asked.

Cuddy smiled. "You can say that."

She added it to her collection, which made it four. If Brendan agreed to her offer, she would only need eight more roses before they met. Cuddy did mean it when she said she was ready to meet him now. She was intrigued by him and his pleasant nature was appealing to her.

She knew she wasn't doing this to make House jealous; she did this because she liked Brendan.

Cuddy kissed Rachel goodbye and left the house quickly. It had snowed a little last night, so her sidewalk and driveway had a little less than an inch of snow on them, enough to leave footprints in the snow. She stepped up to her mailbox and looked downward. There was a trail of footprints leading to and from her mailbox, and they were fresh. They came in from one direction and left in another. Her heart leapt. Was it Brendan's prints? They looked like prints that belonged to athletic sneakers, similar to the ones House wears, and were about the same size, too. Cuddy fought the urge to follow the prints, thinking they would lead her to Brendan. Instead, she pushed the idea out of her mind and opened her mailbox.

She had tons of mail from everyone else, but none from Brendan. Her heart sank, knocking her mood down a notch. He didn't write to her yesterday morning either. Was he only doing it at night now? The only reason he did it twice in the same day before is because she ignored the first note. But how did he know she ignored the first note? Unless he was watching her read the note and crinkle it up while she was in her car.

No…that's a foolish thing to think! Cuddy knew Brendan wasn't like that. He probably sent another one because he knew his first one would never catch on with her. It was too vague and didn't even have anything past the body paragraph.

Cuddy took her mail with her and left for the hospital.

Once again, there was an anonymous stranger lingering in the shadows, pleased with himself that he had Lisa Cuddy in his grasp. It was far easier than he thought. He was glad she decided to do this the easy way and not the hard way. Regardless of whether she responded to those notes or not, he was going to get her anyway. She made it easy for the both of them. He was almost there. She was just about his.

-------------

"Is this a joke?" House asked, barging into her office ten minutes after she arrived there, waving a blue chart in the air.

"What do you mean?" Cuddy asked.

"A patient with tearing of the eyes, uncontrollable coughing and sneezing, burning sensation in the skin and throat, and chest tightness and difficulty with breathing. A child could diagnose this guy!" He tossed the file onto her desk. "He was shot into the eyes with pepper spray, probably while he was mugging this chick in an alley and the bitch was loaded."

"No kidding, I just wanted you to leave me alone for a while and since you have no current cases, I gave you one from the clinic. Speaking of, how about you leave my office and go there now. Your lackeys are already there."

House didn't move. "So if the four of them are there, why do I need to be? It's not even busy enough for two people, let alone five! Besides, I feel like bothering you. How's that whiny brat of yours?"

Cuddy picked up a pen and got started on her morning paperwork. "_Rachel_ is fine, House, thanks for asking. Now that we're done chatting, you can go now."

House didn't budge. "How's the nanny? Is she nice? Did you check her out, because I hear that shaken baby syndrome is becoming more and more popular these days by teenagers with no patience and wanting extra money for…whatever."

Cuddy glanced up at him from her paperwork, only moving her eyes. "She isn't like that, House, nor is she a baby snatcher, a druggie, abusive, a smoker, or anything else that's asinine that you want to throw out at me and waste my time. Go away."

He still didn't move. Cuddy lightly slammed her hand down on the surface of her desk. It's like speaking to a wall. He stood there and looked dumb.

"House, I'm serious."

"But I don't want to go to the clinic!" he whined. "I already did my hours for this week."

"Fine, whatever, I don't care what you do, just don't do it in here," she said, easily giving in, waving him off with her hand.

"Why are you so quick to get rid of me all the time?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Cuddy chuckled. That was an easy one. "Because you annoy me. It goes without say."

"You're doing it because of this new guy in your life and you're afraid that if I stick around, you'll go back to having the hots for me."

Cuddy burst out laughing after that one. "Yeah, right, that's a laugh. And there's no new guy, House. I told you that yesterday."

Just then, the largest bouquet of flowers known to man walked through Cuddy's door. A head poked around them when they arrived at her desk. She knew whom they were from. A huge smile appeared onto Cuddy's face and her cheeks reddened. She helped the delivery boy by moving her things onto one side and place the huge bunch of flowers onto her desk. She thanked him. Cuddy was so wrapped up in the beautiful flowers that she hardly noticed House fuming off to the side.

"I knew it! Who is he?" Anyone who got Cuddy to smile and blush like that was definitely worth knowing about.

In the middle of just about every flower on this planet, was a rose. Cuddy nearly started crying. She pulled it out of the arrangement and smelt it out of habit. That now made seven roses to go. At this rate, they would be meeting in as little as three days. She couldn't wait!

"Oh for god sake," House muttered and walked over to the bouquet. He tore the greeting card off the stem. He wanted to know who they were from and why he made Cuddy smile like that.

"House!" she shouted, reaching out to try to snatch the card back. It was useless. He pulled it away and already started reading it.

"Who the hell's Brendan?" he asked, a mix of shock and anger splashed across his face.

"House, the last time I checked, I didn't need your permission to see other guys." She ripped the greeting card from him and set it on her desk by the flowers.

"Judging by that card, you've never met him."

Cuddy shrugged. "Yeah, so?" She was more focused on the flowers than she was with House. "He's a pen pal that sends me gifts. Like I said before, I'm open to new things."

"What you really have is a note attached to your back that says 'I'm easy, take me now,' because in the end, that's really what it's all about with you, right? You tried to get your last date to sleep with you on the first night."

Cuddy looked insulted by his words and assumptions. Her jaw dropped. "If it was about the sex, House, I wouldn't be pen pals with him, I would find him and take it from there," she said, tone spiteful. "Sometimes a woman needs companionship and Brendan gives it to me without being biased or an insufferable ass!"

Cuddy surprised herself how she turned this into thinking about House. House was even more surprised, if only for a second.

"Don't make this about me, Cuddy."

"Get out."

House didn't move. "You can't see this guy."

Cuddy fell glum, as if she suddenly lost every ounce of strength in her body and had to lean to her desk for support. "Why?" she asked in a small voice.

"Because he could be a creep! What guy sends someone letters saying he's a new neighbor and puts roses with them? Either he's a creep or he wants to get laid! Either way, I don't want you involved."

A frown came to Cuddy's face. "How did you know about that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I guessed." He was a horrible liar. He always has been.

"Cameron told you, didn't she?" Cuddy asked, putting a hand to her hip. Figures she couldn't keep her quiet about this, but why go right to telling House? If Cameron and House knew, the whole hospital must know! She was wondering why more eyes were looking at her than normal when she walked in.

"No one told me. I'm psychic!" he declared happily, throwing a clenched fist in the air.

Cuddy was not daunted in the least. "Tell me, or I'll permanently reassign you to clinic duty for as long as you continue to work here."

Cuddy would never follow up with that threat. House found it humorous. He couldn't help but chuckle. "Good one. Haven't heard that one before."

"House, come on, just tell me," she said with defeat.

"If I tell you, will you break it off with this guy?"

"No," she said simply.

"Then I won't tell you." He walked out of her office with a smug look on his face.

Cuddy sighed, lowering her head. It started with Cameron. God knows who it ended with. It didn't end with House. House had to have told someone. Hopefully not Wilson. He would come to her office with a list of things on why she should break it off with Brendan.

Now everyone would be coming to her one by one, trying to get her to see the light of day. That probably wasn't a good idea, because the more people tried to take Brendan away from her, the more she wanted him and his entirety.

First, she would scold Cameron. Cuddy didn't tell her about Brendan so she could blab her business all over the hospital. With this place being a grapevine, everyone would know at the end of the day, if they didn't already know.

She placed the rose back into the same exact spot she took it out of with a smile and set off to find Cameron. She knew exactly where she would be.

--------------

The stranger lightly brushed the curtains to his window aside and peeked at the house across the street. He knew Lisa wasn't home, but someone else was. A woman no older than twenty was seen in the window, bouncing a baby up and down gently to get her to stop crying. After a few attempts, she was successful and the sweet baby stopped crying. A smile came to the stranger's face. Such an innocent baby. Lisa would die for that baby. The stranger liked to try to experience that.

Looking down at his hands was a picture of Lisa getting her mail that morning. Ever since his eyes were set on the most beautiful woman in the world, he had to start a picture collection. His entire living room back wall was just about covered in large mug shot photos of Lisa, as well as some standard sized pictures. He hung up the 8 x 10 of her at her mailbox and stepped back to admire it. He also had pictures of her from the internet, from proposals, parties, and any other place he followed her just to get a few shots of her.

His favorite was where she was in a royal red dress that came down to her knees and wore matching three-inch spike heels to complete the ensemble. Her hair was pinned up neatly for this hospital event. The stranger wasn't sure what event it was, but whatever it was, it made Lisa happy. She couldn't stop smiling, not even for a minute. It's okay, because she was incredibly picturesque. He walked out of the hospital that night with too many pictures to count.

What made Lisa cry? What made her smile? What actions would make her go out of her mind with worry? He wanted to experience all of that. He would take her in and make her his at first, but then he would show his true colors. As much as he wanted to love her, he wanted to hurt her. She said Rachel was her life, right? He wanted to test that for himself. Folding his arms, he looked at the many pictures, one by one, thinking of what to do next. The flowers at the office were a nice touch. He bet she liked those.

He grabbed a pen and paper and started writing the next note.

------------

Cameron was found in the ER, treating an elderly man who fell and hurt his hip when Cuddy pushed open the curtain quickly, scaring the man's wife, who let out a small yell of surprise.

"I need to speak with you right now," Cuddy demanded.

Cameron knew what it was about. She placed her hand on the old man's shoulder. "I'll be right back," she said in a calm voice, hoping she would be.

She tried to avoid Cuddy's eyes completely. They showed definite signs of anger. She followed slowly behind, like a scared child who knows they did something wrong.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire you on the spot."

Cameron recoiled at the harshness of Cuddy's tone, as well as the strict look on her face.

"I was worried about you," Cameron said, sticking up for herself. "Chase told you?"

"No, _House_ told me."

Cameron's eyes widened. "How did House find out?"

"Probably from Chase, thanks to you."

Cameron always found Cuddy to be somewhat intimidating. Cameron found she couldn't be as blunt and forceful with her opinion as she would be if this were someone else.

"I specifically told you not to tell anyone and you go off and do it anyway."

"You knew I would!" Cameron said.

"I thought I could trust you. Something like this wasn't supposed to become hospital news."

"If you wanted to keep it a secret, you shouldn't have told me. You knew I wouldn't be on your side with writing letters to some creep!"

"I wanted to talk about it, not create gossip for nurses! Even if you wanted to help me, what the hell makes you think that letting it become hospital business will come anywhere near close to helping me?"

Cameron threw her arms out. "I'm sorry, okay? I only told Chase. I didn't think he would blab it on to House. And besides, you don't even know if everyone is gossiping about it! And even if they were, since when are you the type to care what people think about you?"

Cameron's tone was harsh. So maybe she could be blunt and forceful with Cuddy.

There were many ways Cuddy could take this conversation, but wanted to end it instead.

"Why don't you take the rest of the week off? Starting now."

Cuddy didn't have time to see Cameron's jaw drop. She spun on her heels and quickly walked away.

"Based on what?!" Cameron asked, following her closely. "Not keeping a secret? That's personal, not work related! I could sue you for loss of wages."

"Threatening me isn't going to help, Dr. Cameron. Go home."

Cameron stopped in her tracks. "I'm not leaving over something so immature and childish."

Cuddy stopped also and turned to face her.

"I _specifically_ told you not—"

"Not to say anything, yeah, I heard you the last hundred times you said that. It doesn't change the fact that I did say something, and I only did that because I was worried about you. If you want to take this up with someone, take it up with Chase, who probably told multiple people. You're wasting your time with me."

"If it weren't for you, Chase wouldn't have found out. See the point here?"

"And if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have found out. See the point _there_?"

That was a kick to the face, but Cuddy never faltered. "I don't like your tone," Cuddy said, speaking bitterly. "The next time I go down to the ER, you better not be there."

Cameron had to bite her tongue. There were so many things she wanted to say to Cuddy right then, but didn't. She turned around and walked away first, afraid that if she stuck around, she would say the wrong thing.

Cuddy continued onward like nothing happened.

-------------

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Wilson asked, walking into Cuddy's office, knocking on the opened door.

"Depends," Cuddy grumbled, knowing why he was there. It was only a matter of time before he found out about Brendan.

"Nice flowers. Secret admirer?" he asked, sitting in the chair in front of her desk.

Cuddy sighed and set her pen down. "You should know that, it's the reason you're here," she said, leaning back into her chair. "House?"

Wilson shook his head. "No…not right away. I heard it from some patient in the clinic."

Cuddy's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me?!"

He held his hands up in defense. "At first I didn't know they were talking about you, and then House breaks down my office door and says something about this guy named Brendan and how he's a stalker."

"So you figured you just _had_ to rush down and hear the gossip for yourself," she said with a smile.

"Not just that. I also heard you suspended Cameron. Why?"

"If it weren't for her, it never would've gotten out," she muttered.

"Let's get back to that later. Who is Brendan and why are you writing to him?"

Talking to Wilson was much easier than talking to House. She trusted Wilson and didn't feel the urge to yell at him like she does with House on a regular basis. It's hard to believe the two were friends. They were like night and day.

"Because…he wrote to me first…and he's a nice guy."

"He's saying what you want to hear, Lisa." His voice was full of concern. "You don't know him. For all you know, he could be on the top ten most wanted list for the FBI or the CIA."

Cuddy chuckled at that. "He's not on any top ten most wanted lists, James. This is like a date, only I've never seen him and it's through writing. It's the same thing as connecting through websites, only I haven't seen a picture of him and the letter ends up in solid form in my mailbox instead of my email account."

"He knows where you live. Look, I know you're happy. I haven't seen you glow in years. I like seeing you happy and if Brendan turns out to be an authentic, charming human being, I give you my sincerest apology." He sighed. "But if he's not…"

"It's nothing I can't handle. But thank you."

He nodded. The two sat in silence for a moment.

"I suspended Cameron because she blabbed her mouth," Cuddy started, knowing that's why Wilson was still sitting there.

"She wouldn't have had to blab her mouth if you didn't tell her."

Cuddy's brows furrowed. "Whose side are you on?"

"Right now, everyone else's. If you wanted to keep it a secret, telling Cameron was stupid. You knew she would be completely against it."

"She could be against it all she wants, that doesn't mean she had to go tell the next person she passed in the hallway."

"She's concerned for you. So am I. So is House. I never saw him so worked up."

"Because he's jealous that someone else is taking up my time instead of him. It's like he doesn't want the toy, but no one else can have it either. Same thing happened when I got Rachel. He was the first to come to me and tell me to give her up."

"Lisa, he was the only one to tell you to give her up."

Cuddy lightly shook her head. "I can't wait for him forever," she said in a small voice.

Wilson stood. "Then maybe you should try talking to him. He made the first move. It's your turn to make the second."

Wilson left after that.

--------------

Cuddy kept herself hidden away for the rest of the day until it was time to go home around seven. No one mentioned Brendan to her the rare times she did make an appearance out of her office.

Maybe it was time to meet him and put an end to everyone's gossip and ridicule. Maybe if there was a face to go with the hearsay, people would see he wasn't a crazy psycho like they think he is.

It's become a habit now that every time Cuddy drove down her street, she would stare off into the distance to see if the flag was up on her mailbox. And as usual, it always was. Inside was Brendan's note, as well as another flower. That made three roses in one day, making a total of six.

Cuddy's heart fluttered as she held the sixth rose in her hand. She smiled at the flower. Was this really too good to be true? Was Brendan for real? Cuddy knew she couldn't go another day without meeting him.

She was quickly falling in love with someone she didn't even know, despite everyone trying to pull her back. Brendan was special.

Cuddy relieved her nanny and got Rachel's bottle ready. She added the sixth rose to the bunch and mused on how crowded the roses looked. She moved about to get a bigger vase. She reached up into a cabinet to place her hand over a vase the next size up. With a smile, she shifted her hand and grabbed the biggest vase she had. Right now, it looked too big for the six roses, but once she had a dozen, it would look just right.

While setting up the flowers in her windowsill, Cuddy wondered what Brendan looked like. He never described himself. She assumed he was handsome based on how literate he appeared to be when he wrote the letters. She imagined how she would appear when she answered the door one day and there he was. How would she react? Would she throw herself at him and kiss him? Right now, that's what she wanted to do. Cuddy couldn't remember the last time she felt so weightless inside. It felt like she was floating. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see the face she pictured in the dream. He would cup her face ever so gently as he moved in to kiss her. He had the most gentle, yet passionate kisses she had ever felt. It was one of those kisses where she instantly fell weak at the knees and had to wrap her arms around him to support herself.

Unfortunately, Cuddy had to open her eyes up again and snap herself out of her reverie. Rachel started crying. She wanted to eat.

Cuddy brushed away a tear that formed in her eye and moved in to feed her hungry infant. The entire time, she eyed the note that sat idly on the hall table with her briefcase and car keys. She wanted to open it and was tempted to put Rachel down and feed her later. However, if she wanted a decent night's sleep tonight, she had to feed her and then put her down to bed.

Twenty minutes later, Cuddy put Rachel down to bed and got ready for bed herself. Now she was free to read the note in peace and send back which she hoped would be the last letter she would have to write him before meeting him face to face. Her heart quickened its pace as she tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter. Along with the letter came a small wallet-sized photo of a very stunning looking man. Cuddy's heart jumped up in her throat. If this was Brendan, she was a shoo-in to be the luckiest woman in New Jersey! It was a mug shot of him, looked to be taken recently, despite the lightly folded, worn out corners. He had jet-black hair in the style Wilson kept his in, piercing green eyes, just like in her dream, no facial hair, and the most adoring smile she had ever seen on a man. The picture alone made her go weak at the knees. How could someone this gorgeous not be taken?

Dear Lisa,

I hope I wasn't being too forward with sending you a picture of me. I stumbled across it in an old photo box I just put in the basement when I moved in. It was taken last year at a party, so it's fairly recent. My face still looks the same. I hope you liked the flowers. I saw them this morning and they made me think of you. Actually, once I stopped at a flower shop with every intention of getting you flowers, I saw the biggest bouquet and thought of you. Sending them to where you work was probably a bad idea though, huh? Your employee probably didn't think too highly of it. I also really like your dozen roses idea and I'm surprised I didn't think of it myself! If you feel comfortable meeting me after the twelfth rose, let's do it! Where do you like to go on a first date? I'm not too familiar with the places around here yet, so I'll let you have the pick.

In answer to your questions, the most I'll tell you is that I grew up in Ogunquit, Maine, and have two older sisters. The rest I'll tell you on our first date. I'm going to keep that mysterious persona with me.

Looking forward to your letter, as always.

Forever,

Brendan

Cuddy wasted no time in responding, smile spread wide across her face.

Brendan,

I don't know if I can wait for six more roses to show up individually at my doorstep before we meet! Three, four days from now seems like an eternity. I don't know how it happened in just the last few days, but it did. I never do this. It takes me months to like someone, only if I'm serious about a relationship. I put them through tests and many other unnecessary things to see if they're worthy, but you…it's different with you. I feel like I've known you my entire life! There's so much more I want to say, but I think we should wait for our first date. What do you think?

Always,

Lisa

A pair of eyes watched her hungrily as she walked out to her driveway and slipped the note into the mailbox. He planned to go get it as soon as her bay window light went out and she was on her way to bed. He almost had her. He was almost there. She fell for this nicely.

--------------

Cuddy woke up the next morning with only one thing on her mind—the rose at the front doorstep. She got up a little earlier than usual and walked to the living room. It was lightly snowing outside, just enough that she would have to brush a layer of snow off her car before going to work.

She opened the front door and, right on her step, were six red roses and small greeting card tucked in with them. Her heart fluttered. She almost wanted to take a picture of this moment and remember it forever.

Cuddy was falling in love. She didn't know how it was possible with the lack of information present when it came to Brendan, but she did know the feeling of love. The heart doesn't lie.

She picked up the flowers. Tears came to her eyes.

The card said, "see you at seven."

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**Let me know what you think! Review.. Review..pretty please! :)**


	4. A Dozen Roses

Thanks for the great reviews, guys!

Enjoy :)

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Cuddy could barely sit still all day. Brendan sent her the rest of the bouquet, meaning he was ready to see her! And tonight no less! At times, Cuddy would start panicking. What was she going to wear? How would she put her hair? What would she do about Rachel? Hopefully her nanny would stay a few extra hours today. That would save her life! The only thing on her mind right now was him. She tried working, but would occasionally glance off into space and think about Brendan. It was hard not to. For the first time in a long time, she knew she was in love. Love works in strange ways. She definitely caught the strangest way. Things like this don't happen to her. They happen to lovesick teenage girls who go on the internet and chat with strangers in chat rooms or on instant messengers. That was classic for a budding teenage girl, but for Cuddy?

Cuddy would question it until the end of her days and never understand it. She also don't know what promoted herself to doodling his name at the top corner of a scrap piece of paper. It's as if she was making up for the lost time in high school with not having much time to date or have a life. Now that she was a well-established administrator with a secure future, why not cut loose every now and then? It's been forever since she went dancing, out to dinner, or even clubbing. She did that once in college with friends. It was fun, but she never got a chance to do it again. Her life needed some excitement. She had a feeling Brendan would help her with that.

"Hellooo! Earth to Cuddy!"

Cuddy was snapped out of her reverie rather rudely by House, who added extra annoyance by waving a hand in her face.

"I've been standing here for like five minutes and you didn't notice?"

"You weren't standing there for five minutes, House. What do you want?"

"Why did you suspend Cameron?"

Cuddy furrowed her brows. "I didn't suspend her."

"She said that you did because she blabbed your little secret out in the open."

"I didn't think she'd actually take me seriously," Cuddy said in surprise, picking up her phone. "Did she really not show up this morning?"

House shook his head. "Nope. You know, you shouldn't say things you don't mean."

Cuddy sighed, punching in Cameron's pager number, and then hung up. She glared at House.

"You can leave now."

House hummed in thought at how mellow she sounded, despite the narrowing of her eyes. "You don't seem as angry as you normally would by now. Receive more flowers from lover boy?"

She eyed him. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes, I did." She stood up, taking some folders with her over to her filing cabinet. House remained at her desk. He spotted Brendan's name at the corner of a piece of paper, surrounded by hearts.

"High school much?" she commented, picking up the paper. Not only did she scribble his name there, but it was all over the place. Some were in writing, some were printed, but the majority of the letters were bubble. "Jeez, Cuddy. Have any that say Greg on them?"

Cuddy snatched it out of his hand and slapped it back onto her desk. "Do you have a point? What do you want?"

"To bother you. Why aren't you staring at your baby through the webcam today?"

"Because I forgot my laptop at home," she said simply. "You came in here to ask about Cameron. She's coming back, so you can go now."

"Yeah, I'd forget my laptop too if I was too busy drooling over some poor underprivileged psycho with a knack for tracking down lonely single mothers," he said, sticking firmly on the subject with Brendan.

"Shut up," she said, not wanting to hear his voice anymore. "Go away."

House didn't move. "I'm guessing that you've agreed to meet him."

Cuddy rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. "In fact, yes. He's meeting me at seven tonight."

House opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by the ringing of Cuddy's phone. Must be Cameron. Cuddy answered it after the first ring.

"No, I wasn't serious when I said you were suspended, Dr. Cameron. Come see me in my office when you get in."

She hung up shortly after that after getting a confirmation from Cameron.

"You did not just say he's meeting you at seven."

House was still stuck on that.

"I did. And he is. You done bothering me yet?"

"You're not seriously thinking of going out with this guy!"

And he clearly couldn't get over it.

"House, stop acting like the older brother I never wanted and, more importantly, stop acting like you care on the whole. Go find a case to work on. If you don't have a case, go work in the clinic. Hell, go anywhere you want, just as long as it's away from me. I'm nervous about tonight as it is, I don't need you adding stressors onto it."

He pointed to her. "See, you're nervous. That's a sign that you shouldn't go."

Even though she was arguing with House, she had butterflies in her stomach about tonight.

"It's natural to feel this way, House. I haven't been on a date in a long time. I wouldn't expect you to know how it feels. Hookers don't exactly take their clients out on dates."

"That's because dates are meaningless," he said, sitting in the chair across from her desk and twirling his cane around between his fingers. "All they are is just a prelude to sex and since sex is the most important part, just skip to it and then go on a date."

"Sex isn't everything," she said, not surprised he would think that. Nothing he said surprised her anymore. It's just how he says it is the kicker.

"Says you. Not everyone can make celibacy look as easy as you do. Most of us actually _need_ sex. You…don't, for some reason. Why?"

Even though House is a jerk a good chunk of the day, he's usually a jerk for a reason. What was he accomplishing by asking Cuddy about her sex life?

This one caught her by surprise, causing her to stop writing, but only for a second. She continued without looking up at him. She wanted to think of him gone as much as possible. It didn't help when he kept talking, though.

"Because it's not at the top of my list of things to do like it is on yours."

"But it IS on there, right?"

"Somewhere, I'm sure," she said casually, determined to get her work done so she could leave on time and go home to get ready for her date.

"Somewhere, until someone like Brendan comes along and then you put it up to the top."

"We're only going out for a date, not jumping in the sack." She looked up at him. "And if you come anywhere near us tonight, I will fire you."

He cocked his head to the side. "Like you did to Cameron?"

"I didn't fire her. She misunderstood me. But now the rumors will stop when I bring Brendan in to show him off. With a face like his, you better believe I will be."

Cuddy wasn't sure why she was rubbing Brendan in House's face so badly. House wasn't too pleased with it either. Every time Brendan's name was mentioned, House's face would slightly grimace. It was an adorable feature that he had. She may never really understand why House didn't want her to have a life outside of work, or outside of him for that matter. He wasn't an easy man to figure out. Maybe she was pushing Brendan to him because he was annoying and wouldn't leave her alone. That didn't matter, because House was still in here and still bothering her. What would it take for him to leave her alone?

"So…about sleeping with him, the answer is no?"

Cuddy smiled. Maybe getting rid of him was easier than she thought. Might as well play along with him. "Maybe I will," she said, resting her chin on her hand. "I haven't slept with anyone in…a very long time, so I think I'm due, don't you? Maybe if my needs are met, I'll be able to—"

House held up his hands to stop her. "Okay, I got your point, you want me to leave." He stood.

Cuddy wasn't done with him yet. She was enjoying this. She sat back in her chair and put her feet up onto her desk, making sure that her skirt hitched up above her knees and uncovering most of her upper leg.

"What's your hurry?" she asked, hooking her finger around the hem of her skirt and innocently tugging it up to show more of her leg.

House couldn't keep his eyes off her legs. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Proving that I still have it in me," she purred, looking at him with bedroom eyes.

"Okay, well, you proved it," he said, swallowing hard. "I need a cold shower."

Cuddy laughed. If all she had to do was show him her legs in order to get him out of her office, she should've done that a long time ago. At least he would be gone for a little while, allowing her to get her work done.

She didn't get too much done, for the next person to interrupt her was Cameron. Judging by the coat, the scarf, hat, and snowy shoes, she just got here. And she didn't look too happy.

"What happened to _you_?" Cuddy asked, wondering why she was covered in snow when it wasn't snowing out.

"Tripped over a curb covered in snow and landed face first into a patch of snow with everyone watching," she said, pulling off her hat. "So I guess I'm not suspended."

Cuddy folded her hands on her desk. "I'm sorry you misunderstood me."

"How could I misunderstand something like that?" she asked, voice raised in surprise. "You clearly told me I was suspended and to go home, or whatever you said."

"And I said I was sorry," Cuddy said, voice firm. "Go ahead and get to the ER. I just wanted to apologize."

"Apology accepted, like I have a choice," she said and left Cuddy's office quickly.

Cuddy watched her leave until she was out of sight. She sighed heavily before returning to her paperwork.

---------------

Cuddy wasn't disrupted at all for the rest of the day by House, or by anyone for that matter. She was able to get done what she needed to get done and left soon afterward. The time was six. She had just enough time to go home and get ready for Brendan to come over. Once again, butterflies occupied her stomach. The closer the time got to seven, the more nervous she became. It got to the point where her limbs started to go numb. She had to take several deep breaths to calm herself down. And that wasn't the worst part. She had no idea what she was going to wear! All she had in her closet were clothes she wore to work and jeans in her other drawer she wore around the house.

"What about this one?" her nanny suggested, pulling a black dress out of the walk-in closet.

Cuddy shook her head. "Wore that to my last date. I think there's a blue one in there."

There was. It was the same dress she wore to the hospital function where she kicked House's ass in poker. That one was too flashy for a first date. She declined on that one. There's no telling what Brendan was going to be wearing. If he's like any guy she knew, he would have on pants, a dress shirt, a blazer, and a tie. That was like a formal dress down for men. Too bad there wasn't such thing as a formal dress down for women. They either dressed up, or they didn't. There was no in between.

"How about this one? It's the only other option." Her nanny pulled out a dark purple, almost black, I-can-see-your-cleavage-VERY-well dress. Cuddy wasn't sure if she wanted to present herself that way to Brendan, but she had no other option. She thanked her nanny and got ready. She slipped into the dress that hugged her curves very well. It came down just above her knees and the frilly sleeves were a three-quarter style. The dress itself was a cotton material, so it felt very comfortable. The neck was a V…perhaps a very low V, Cuddy mused, checking herself out in the full-length mirror. She could see the center of her white laced bra and had to pull up the neck a little to cover it. What is she thinking when she buys these dresses?

Okay, now that the dress was taken care of, what about her hair? The time was six-forty-five. He would be here any minute and she still hasn't fixed her hair! There's not much she could do with it on such short notice. It was already styled from when she went into work today, so that would have to be good enough. She put on small silver hoop earrings and a necklace with a diamond pendant. She also touched up her makeup.

Her knees started to tremble now. What if he didn't like her? What if she said the wrong thing? She didn't even know him! How would she know what to say?!

"Calm down, calm down," Cuddy chided to herself, as if it made a difference. She would be nervous as hell until Brendan came.

What if he didn't come? What if he—

Cuddy was interrupted by the sound of her doorbell. Her breath caught in her throat. It's him! And he's early!

Cuddy's hands trembled. "Okay…I can do this…I just have to relax…"

Luckily she wasn't in heels, because she probably would've tripped walking to the door. Her nanny was in Rachel's bedroom, allowing the two to have a private moment. Cuddy made her way to the door just as the doorbell rang again. Being as brave as she could possibly be, she opened the door and prepared herself for what she was about to see. However, nothing could possibly have prepared her for what she saw. As nervous and distraught as she was turning the doorknob, it all faded away in the next three seconds.

It was House.

"You look good," he said, looking her over.

Cuddy's jaw dropped. She could cry! "What are you doing here?!" she yelled. He completely ruined her moment.

"Taking you out on our date." He extended his arm out to her. "Ready to go?"

Cuddy was speechless as she stared at him like he had two heads and four arms. And then it hit her.

"Oh my god, please don't tell me you're Brendan," she breathed, feeling tears build up on the lining of her eyes, but not enough to fall down her face. If he wasn't, this was a very cruel joke. If he was, the joke was even crueler! Disappointment flew through her body at rapid speed. She hated House more than ever now. She had every right to!

"What if I am? Will you still love me in the morning?"

Cuddy's mouth remained open in shock, utterly flabbergasted. All this time, Cuddy rushed home, just to get letters and roses from House?! She was falling in love with an imaginary person! No wonder why no one gossiped about a new neighbor. There wasn't one!

"You son of a bitch," she growled.

"No one had to tell me about the letters, because I already knew, perceptibly," he said, stepping into her house, but leaving the door open.

Cuddy still couldn't believe it. He was the one who sent her the roses? The huge bouquet of flowers?

"I'm surprised with you, Cuddy. Didn't you recognize my handwriting?"

Cuddy's hands tightened into fists. Something wasn't right. House would never go out of his way and do something like this, even if they were dating. He would never buy her flowers or come to her house twice a day just to slip a note in her mailbox. It wasn't him. He says what he feels and doesn't have to give the runaround to pretend to be someone else just to get her to notice him. Unless he didn't know how to come forward and tell her to her face that he liked her. That's the only thing she could think of while her head remained cloudy at the given moment.

"Ready to go now?" he asked, trying to usher her out the door again.

Cuddy glared the glare of a thousands deaths, directing it solely on him. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I hate you. Whatever we could've had, or might've had in the past, forget it all. As far as I'm concerned, you don't exist to me. You never have, you never will." Her tone was hard and firm. "Get the hell out."

That was a very vindictive joke to play on her. She actually fell for Brendan! She might've even come so far as to admitting she was in love with him, just by the way he made himself appear in his letters. So House's tactic was that if he expressed his concerns to Cuddy at the hospital about Brendan and try to keep her away from him, it'll make her want to see him quicker.

She hurt him, just based on her words alone. She could see it in his face.

Just then, headlights were seen as a car pulled up into her driveway. Cuddy looked past House, wondering who it was.

"Now that I know how you really feel, enjoy your date," House said, voice full of hurt, and turned around to leave.

Cuddy's facial expressions went right back to being in shock as she looked out her door at the unfamiliar car that pulled up into her driveway. It was the same man from the picture that she got in the previous note. And he was carrying flowers!

Suddenly, House didn't exist to her. She hardly noticed him limping down the driveway and getting on his motorcycle. Only he would drive a bike in the wintertime.

Cuddy froze as the stranger approached her. He was very real. And he was right on time.

"You must be Lisa," he said, extending his free hand. "I'm Brendan Weatherlee."

Cuddy shook his hand, suddenly not feeling so nervous. She was more relieved than anything that Brendan was real and that he existed right in front of her. If she had to thank House for anything, it would be that he took the nervousness right out of her.

"These are for you," he said, flashing his pearly whites as he handed her a bouquet of roses.

"More roses," Cuddy said, voice nearly breaking. Now there was a different reason tears were coming to her eyes. She couldn't tear herself away from him. He was even more gorgeous than in the picture. His eyes were enough to make a woman go weak at the knees. They certainly did a number on her!

"Are you okay?" That was a fair question, for Brendan witnessed a tear falling from her eye.

Cuddy nodded quickly. "Yeah, of course, it's just that…I've never gotten so many roses in my life," she said, followed by a chuckle.

"Okay…as long as that's the only reason and not because you're tense about going out with me."

Cuddy smiled up at him. He was at least 6'1" and with her being only 5'4", she had some neck stretching to do. "I'm not tense, I promise."

He rested his hand on her lower arm, giving her a smile of his own. Their eyes connected, causing Cuddy's heart to flip-flop. "Good," he said in a low voice. "Because I wouldn't want you to be nervous on our first date. Did you pick a place where you wanted to go?"

Cuddy was taken aback by Brendan. He was so gentle and kind that if he asked her to marry him right now, she would say yes! Being head over heels in love with him helped out a lot in that decision also. While staring into his eyes, she couldn't find the proper syllables to form words.

How could this be happening? She didn't know him well enough to have these feelings or decide that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him!

The urge to kiss him was there. It was an urge that took over her entire body. All these feelings for him made her body go into overdrive. If she didn't calm down now, she would probably start screaming.

"Y-Yeah, um…Carrabba's is an…Italian Grill about ten minutes away. Unless you want Chinese, or Thai, or—"

"Italian is fine," Brendan interrupted with a chuckle. "Are you always this nervous on your first date?"

"I'm not nervous!" Cuddy insisted, even though her cheeks blushed severely. She turned her head to try to hide it.

Brendan laughed harder when she did that. "It's okay, Lisa. If it makes you feel any better, I'm probably more nervous than you."

"Okay, then I admit I am a little nervous." She took him by the hand and ushered him into her house. "I want you to meet Rachel before we leave."

Brendan was okay with that. In fact, he was all for it. Cuddy called for her nanny and she came out with Rachel. Cuddy took her baby into her arms after setting the flowers down nearby. "This is Sarah, my nanny, and Rachel, the cutest baby in the world," she said, kissing Rachel on the cheek.

Brendan and Sarah shook hands. After, Cuddy handed him Rachel after he said he wanted to hold her.

"I haven't held a baby in thirteen years," he said, gently rocking Rachel to sleep in his arms.

Cuddy's heart melted at the sight of him with Rachel. It only made her love him even more, if that was possible.

"You're a regular pro," Cuddy said, almost coming to tears again.

Brendan kissed the top of Rachel's head and handed her back to Sarah. "I don't think she'll give you any trouble falling asleep tonight," Brendan said in a whisper voice so he wouldn't wake her up.

Sarah left shortly after that.

"Rachel's beautiful," he said and then looked to Cuddy. "You're lucky."

"Hopefully I'll be able to adopt her as planned and then I'll feel even luckier."

Brendan frowned a bit. "She's not yours?"

"Not officially, no, but on paper, I'm her foster mother, so…I guess that makes her mine in a way."

The smile that made Cuddy go weak at the knees appeared back onto his face. "Well, I hope she's yours someday." He extended the bend of his arm. "Ready?"

Cuddy grabbed a matching purse into her hand and confirmed that she was. She slipped her arm through his and hugged herself to him. "Ready."

Some streets down, House watched Cuddy and Brendan get into his car and leave in the opposite direction. Wherever they were going, he planned to go there, too. He started his motorcycle and drove after them with the light off so they couldn't see that they were being followed.

There was something not right about this guy. Not only was he too perfect, but he started off by sending letters instead of meeting her. He wasn't too shy to meet her in person. That was just regular BS. He had a hidden agenda and House wanted to know what it was.

House planned to be all over this, whether Cuddy wanted him to be or not.

What she doesn't know wont hurt her…Or will it?

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**Okay, so we finally meet the infamous Brendan! He'll be charming at first before he shows his true colors. Please review! :)**


	5. First Date

**Thanks everyone for the great reviews!**

**Enjoy :)**

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Brendan didn't know Carrabba's, but certainly knew how to pick a wine. After the hostess seated them and handed them a wine menu, Cuddy complimented on the most expensive one at the top of the list, a red full-bodied J Lohr, which went for a very hefty price once she inquired about it. She was even more amazed when Brendan said he would buy it for her.

"You did hear the price on that, right?" Cuddy whispered when the hostess left after placing the menus down in front of them.

"Don't look at the prices," he whispered back with a grin, picking up his menu. "It's on me, like I said."

Cuddy's mouth dropped. Could he possibly be any sweeter right now?

"I can't let you spend fifty dollars on a bottle of wine!" Cuddy exclaimed in a loud whisper.

"For you, it's pennies." He reached out to touch her hand.

Cuddy began to tear up again. No one has ever said that to her before!

"You blush a lot," he pointed out, followed by a chuckle.

"Shut up," she said, covering her face with the menu.

Just then, their server, donned in tan pants, a long-sleeved, white collared shirt and a white and blue striped tie, approached their table. She introduced herself as Alison and asked if they've ever been there before. Since they said no, she briefly walked through the menu with them. After that, she told them the soup and vegetables of the day.

"What can I get you to drink tonight?" she asked after going through the menu with them, throwing her head back to toss aside a black strand of hair that stubbornly let itself out of the loose bun.

"Alison, right?" Brendan said, folding his hands on the table.

The waitress nodded. "Yeah."

Brendan then pointed to Cuddy. "I want you to get anything this pretty lady wants, okay? That includes a bottle of your best wine, the J Lohr."

Cuddy started blushing again after that.

"Okay," Alison said with a small chuckle and left.

"I can't believe you did that," Cuddy said.

"Hey, it's our first date, first impressions are everything. You're getting spoiled, so stop fighting it!"

"I'm just not used to it," Cuddy admitted.

"You'll get used to it. For you, it's top of the line everything," he added, slamming his hand on the table.

Cuddy cheeks reddened again. "Stop it."

Brendan chuckled. "What?"

"This! You don't have to shower me with gifts. I'm not like that. I'm happy with a pleasant evening at home with a home cooked meal and cuddling by the fire. This is too much."

"Well, Lisa, if it's too much, then obviously you haven't gotten out in a while. Nowadays, women get pampered by their dates, and that includes going to places like this." He held up his hand when she was about to speak. "And as long as we date, I will do this for you, so like I said, stop fighting it!"

Cuddy smiled. "Thank you, but really, next time we date, come to my house and I'll cook for you. You can bring the food if you want," she laughed.

He nodded. "Okay, I will. How does scrod and shrimp sound?"

"Fabulous," Cuddy said, smiling wide. How did she get so lucky to meet someone like Brendan?

Alison brought the bottle of J Lohr to the table and performed one of Carrabba's classic wine presentations before serving it. After amiably opening the bottle, she poured a mouthful into Brendan's glass to get his approval. After receiving a pleasant response, she poured the wine into Cuddy's glass. Cuddy thanked her with a smile. After topping of Brendan's glass, she set the bottle at the end of the table. Also with the wine, she brought out bread and an herb mix for dipping.

They ordered their meals right then. Cuddy ordered a chicken gratella with garlic mashed and a broccoli cauliflower medley. Brendan ordered chicken marsala with spaghetti pomodoro and a house salad with a creamy parmesan dressing.

Brendan thanked Alison by name and handed her back the menus before she left.

"How's the wine?" he asked after Cuddy sipped at it. He watched her the entire time, as if waiting for a grimace or something.

"Very good, thank you. I haven't been on a date in a long time, so the last time I tasted wine…it's been a while."

"You don't drink at home?"

Cuddy shook her head. "Not usually."

Brendan sat back into his chair and folded his hands in his lap, over his napkin. "So, Lisa, tell me about yourself."

Cuddy smiled. "I already told you all about myself. You're the mystery man here."

"And yet you still like me," he teased.

"Yes, I still do," she followed up, chuckling nervously.

He crossed his leg under the table and grabbed piece of bread from the breadbasket. "Okay, I'll start then." He cleared his throat. Cuddy found it charming that he was nervous to talk about himself. Not for a second did she find his hesitation suspicious. She continued to be amazed by him and wished this night would never end.

"I was born and raised in Maine, like I said. I have two older sisters, Laurie and Becca, who moved to California quite some time ago, got married, had kids, blah, blah. I haven't seen them in a long time. My mom died when I was twenty-nine and the relationship with my father was practically nonexistent. He was a doctor and worked around the clock for years. My mom was a stay at home mom who raised us kids. Believe it or not, I was a handful growing up. My mom expected too much from me and I think I was a disappointment most of the time."

"I can't see you as a disappointment to anyone," Cuddy said with a smile, sipping at her wine again.

Brendan smiled back. "That's sweet of you to say, but you don't know my mom. She wanted me to follow in my father's shoes and become a doctor of medicine. She wanted me to make it big." He sighed. "Unfortunately, I didn't."

"So what do you do? For work?"

"Before I moved here, I was a store manager for this really top of the line furniture company and a photojournalist on the side. Photojournalism has always been my passion. You should see my basement. Even though I just moved into my house, I have tons and tons of cameras, equipment, and boxes of pictures. I even set up my own darkroom. That's the _first_ thing I did when I walked in the door. I went downstairs and set it up, just like that," he said, following the snapping of his fingers.

He had Cuddy smiling the entire time. "Wow…that's impressive."

"But what I really want to do is travel the world and take pictures. Name a city, I'll go there. Coliseum in Rome, Eiffel Tower, the Parthenon, and heck, even the rock formations and unknown tombs in Cambodia. I want to see it all!"

Cuddy was smiling so much that her cheeks started to hurt. She loved seeing him happy.

"Well, if you ever plan to go, I'll go with you." Cuddy didn't have to give that a second thought. She would gladly go anywhere with Brendan.

He nodded. "Sure. I'd love to have you with me," he said, flashing her a true, genuine smile. "Would you be able to find the time? Isn't being a Dean of Medicine time constricting?"

Cuddy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Only when my star employee interrupts my day."

"Star employee? He wasn't the guy with the limp that was leaving your front door when I pulled up, was it?"

Cuddy nodded. "He's the one I told you about in the letters—the one I have to baby sit constantly."

Brendan nodded. "Right, I remember that. Can't you fire him…or something?"

"I like what he does for the hospital. I wanted to take some time off and give one of my other doctors my job, but he only made her miserable because he wanted me back there."

Brendan hummed. "Sounds to me like he's pestering you because he likes you."

Cuddy groaned. "We have a past and that is all. He's a brilliant doctor and that's the only reason he's sticking around. He was fired by four administrators before he came to me."

Brendan chuckled. "You got him on the rebound, huh?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"So why was he at your house? Does he visit often?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes and waved her hand to dismiss the subject. "He knew I had a date with you and he was just being an ass. I don't want to talk about him anymore."

Brendan held up his hands. "Okay, just as long as I don't have anything to worry about. I don't want to plan our second date and find that he got to you first."

"Oh believe me, you have nothing to worry about with him."

Brendan seemed satisfied with that answer. "Good, because even though we just met, I'm liking you more and more with each passing second."

Cuddy smiled. "I like you, too."

They paused to grin at one another. He folded his arms on the table. "So, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, what do you do for fun when you're not babysitting your star employee or taking care of Rachel?"

Cuddy mimicked his position and looked right at him. It was hard not to. He was the best-looking date she's ever had. She couldn't wait to show him off at the hospital!

"Well…I don't have much of a social life. I never did, really. My life was surrounded by my work until Rachel came along. Now, I try to balance my life between her and work. When I'm not working and Rachel is asleep, I like to read. Sometimes I'll watch TV movies about romance and feel sorry for myself."

"I can't believe someone like you doesn't go out on dates. I would've thought that guys from all over would be knocking at your door."

"Some of them do," Cuddy admitted. "It's usually those who approach me that I turn down because they're only after one thing."

"You didn't turn me down," Brendan noted.

"No, you're right," she said, smiling. "Because I knew you meant well. How I derived from that conclusion, I don't know, but I won't fight it if you don't."

He held his hands up. "Not at all."

Their meals came after that. They ate and finished their conversation. Cuddy was completely smitten over Brendan. He was good-looking, intelligent, goal-oriented, and a drop-dead sweetheart. She was positive that if he asked her to marry him tonight, she would say yes. When he picked her up, she might say yes. Now, it was a definite. Any man who couldn't get her to stop smiling for a second was certainly a sign. None of her previous dates made her float like the way Brendan did. The others made her smile, but only because they said what she wanted to hear. Brendan didn't do that. He said what was on his mind. Cuddy admired that in him.

House was still feeling it from when Cuddy told him to leave earlier when Brendan pulled up, but that didn't stop him from wanting to be sure this jackass she was going out with didn't hurt her. Cuddy hasn't been out on dates in a long time. Some jerk might take advantage of her. She was a little rusty.

House never went into the restaurant. Instead, he stayed across the street, looking in. By chance, Cuddy and Brendan were sitting by the window, giving him a perfect view of everything. He saw him touch her hand and even go so far as to playing a short game of footsies. House glared at the window. Who was this guy? What was his deal? Why did he pin Cuddy out of every other woman in the world? Any guy who kept a permanent smile on Cuddy's face, he wanted to kill. He wanted to be the one to make Cuddy smile, but didn't really know how. He just made her miserable in the end.

House sat there for an hour watching them drink, eat, and talk. Judging by Cuddy's facial expressions, she was having a fantastic time with this guy. Jealousy pulsed through House's veins. They even had the nerve to share a dessert. He fumed every time they dug into the dessert with their separate spoons and shared a look of lust each time. Brendan probably got the extra chocolate sauce with the hopes that Cuddy would get some at the corners of her mouth, allowing him to reach over with a napkin and wipe it off for her.

An hour and a half later, they left Carrabba's. Most of their time was spent talking. Brendan helped her don her jacket and they left, hand in hand. He even paid for the meal. House saw him get his wallet out. Maybe instead of being jealous, he could learn a few things. Before he paid for anyone else's meal, he should learn to pay for his own!

"So that was good, huh?" Brendan asked, opening his car door for Cuddy.

"The best," she said, allowing him to close the door for her.

He entered on his side. Cuddy watched him with love in her eyes. Her heart was beating, only for him. She watched him as he started the car and pulled out of the lot. If she wasn't careful, her breathing would occasionally quicken. Why hasn't she ever felt this way before? All her past dates were just dates it would seem. She'd get a free meal out of it and never see them again. She didn't want to. She would say goodnight, maybe talk to them on the phone periodically, and then never speak to them again. If that happened with Brendan, she'd probably die. She never wanted him to leave her sight.

They arrived back at her home a little over an hour later. Cuddy wished she could go back in time and redo that hour again, just to be with him. They got out of the car and held hands as he walked her to the door. The closer to the door they got, the further her heart sank.

"I had fun tonight," he said.

"I did, too. I hate that it's ending here." Her face showed it all.

He smiled a sympathetic smile and lightly brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. "Me, too. There's always tomorrow night. Why don't I pick you up at work? That way your employees don't think I'm the crazy, stalker type anymore."

The wide smile was back on Cuddy's face again. "I'd like that a lot."

They stared into one another's eyes, breath quickening on both ends.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked.

"Please do." A nanosecond after she finished that sentence, his lips collided with hers. Evidently, he wanted this as badly as she did. Adding both their intensity together as one, it was a kiss that would fire up anyone merely watching.

Except for House. When he viewed this kiss, it made him sick to his stomach. This was nothing close to how it was when he kissed her. Brendan's hand pressed in at her upper back and both her hands were at his head, deepening the kiss. They even used tongue! House didn't know whether to be disgusted or alarmed at how they were moving so quickly in the relationship. He couldn't stand it anymore and left, making sure to rev his engine to let Cuddy know that he was there the entire time.

Cuddy and Brendan went at it for almost an entire minute. Their tongues explored new territory and their hands wandered. Finally, with the need to take a breath, they had to separate, but their lips remained inches apart. He still kept her pressed to him. If she heard House's bike, she never mentioned it.

"I should go," he breathed a moment later.

"No…you don't have to," she said, feeling a wave of depression flow through her. "Come inside."

"Maybe tomorrow. Now, I think we should call it a night before it goes too far."

Cuddy reluctantly agreed. He kissed her once more, making her weak at the knees again.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at five. Where is your office?"

"In the clinic," Cuddy breathed, finding it hard to maintain her balance.

"See you then," he said, tapping her lips once more before walking away.

Cuddy had to grab a hold of her doorknob to steady herself. It was unlocked, so she went inside after waving goodbye. She watched him take off down the street. However, if she didn't take the time to relieve her nanny for the night and go to tuck in Rachel, she would've seen Brendan drive back around and pull into the garage of the house across the street.

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	6. Second Date

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Cuddy walked into work the next day, smiling like crazy. Not even House could get on her nerves today! No one could upset her. Hell, if her boss came in and terminated her from her job, it _still_ wouldn't be enough to anger her! She counted down the minutes until five and looked at the clock every other minute while trying to work.

House didn't have any current cases, so his fellows spent their time in the clinic. She would glance up occasionally and see Kutner walking by her office, peeking in, and then Taub doing the same. It's one thing to walk by her office, but it's another thing altogether when they have their heads turned entirely in her direction as it's happening. The only one she didn't see was Thirteen.

Until now. Just as Cuddy was finally back into the swing of things and able to get her work done without distracting herself, Thirteen walked into her office, knocking on the door as it was being opened.

"You busy?" she asked.

"Not anymore," Cuddy said, exhaling.

Thirteen entered nervously. She never had a reason to talk to Cuddy personally before, so this was new for her. In fact, if it weren't for the incident a few months ago involving her being a patient's guinea pig, and maybe a few times before that, including being scolded by Cuddy when Cuddy found her in the exam room, giving herself a saline injection, she hasn't been in Cuddy's office much. This was new grounds for the both of them, for it was social. Thirteen stood by the door, as if Cuddy would scold her for coming forth.

"I just wanted to know how your date went…last night…with Brendan," she said nervously, keeping her hands behind her back so Cuddy wouldn't see them fidgeting.

Cuddy folded her arms on her desk. "_You_ want to know or does _House_ want to know?" she asked.

Thirteen shrugged. "I'm…curious," she said.

"You would have no reason to be curious, Dr. Hadley. You wouldn't care one way or another how my date went. House, on the other hand, is probably dying to know, so you can tell him that the date was fantastic and if he wants to meet Brendan personally, he can show up at my office at five tonight. But until then, I don't want to see him," Cuddy added, picking her pen back up. "Be sure to tell him that when you repeat all this back to him. We done?"

Thirteen nodded and left without a word.

Two minutes later, House flew into her office. She saw him barreling through her outer office with a vengeance and nearly broke down the double doors leading into her. He didn't look too happy.

"What the hell is he picking you up here for?"

Figures he'd get Thirteen in here to do his dirty work.

"Yeah, that's a reason to break down the doors," Cuddy muttered, scribbling something down on a chart.

"Don't tell me you're writing his name again," he said, sounding jealous again.

"Go away."

"No," he said simply.

Their eyes met again. Anger loomed in hers. "Get out. Now. Go back to the clinic."

He wouldn't move. "Are you seriously that desperate for a lay?"

Cuddy's mouth dropped.

"Do you usually suck the faces off people on your first date?" His fingers snapped. "Oh, wait, yes you do, John Kelley ring any bells?"

"What's your point, House? Did you just come in here to try to piss me off?"

"I don't want you seeing him anymore," he said, speaking in the most serious tone she had ever heard him come up with.

Cuddy's face slowly crinkled into a frown. "Since when do you get to choose on who I go out with? I like Brendan. In fact, I like him a lot. If he asked me to marry him today, I would say yes. After the trick you played on me yesterday, you don't even have a sporting chance in earning even a smidgen amount of respect from me. You're lucky you still work here."

House said nothing, so Cuddy continued, "And I know you were watching us yesterday."

"Well, duh. I kinda made it obvious."

"Come near us again tonight, and I will fire you."

House didn't move.

"Why are you still here?" she asked, followed by a sigh.

"You can't be pissed at me just because I pretended to be your boy wonder. The fact of the matter is, Cuddy, that if I really was the person behind those letters, you would've fallen in love with me."

"What's your point?" she asked, growing bored of the conversation.

"With words on paper, anyone can sound appealing, even a bastard like me. It's designed that way. Brendan is not who he seems."

Cuddy found that funny. "Really? I'm guessing you assume this because you watched us on our date last night. Or maybe you got an epiphany when you walked by him on your way out my door yesterday. Either way, I'm not interested in what you have to say. I like him, he likes me, and that's all there is to it. I will continue to see him, with or without your consent. Now leave."

Even though Cuddy appeared strict with him, she really wasn't. She wasn't angry at all. Nothing could make her angry. She was still glowing, just as she was when she walked into work this morning.

"You can't even get mad at me without looking happy." Jealousy loomed heavily in his voice.

Cuddy smiled. "I'm not mad. Actually, I've never been happier. Life is great when I'm not stepping from side to side, waiting for someone to stop being an ass and admit how they really feel for me. I never understood why I have to get down to your level in order for you to notice me."

"That's not true," he said.

"It is! House, the only reason you felt the urge to kiss me after I lost Joy is because I was a depressed, crying mess and you saw us as equals."

"I didn't kiss you because you were depressed!" he said, stepping beside himself. "You weren't depressed twenty years ago when we were together, were you?"

"You kissed me for the first time right after I walked out of the bathroom in tears, saying my father had a brain tumor, and then you slept with me after my grandmother died! So yes, House, you are attracted to my misery."

"Then why am I here now?" he asked, stepping forth. "You're obviously very happy with this guy, not miserable in the least, as far as I can see, and yet, I'm still here. What do you say to _that_?"

"You want to know what I say to that?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"You don't want anyone else paying attention to me. You had it easy all these years when I was single and childless. Even when I thought I was adopting Joy, you were a bigger jerk than usual, trying to talk me out of it. When Rachel came, you made Cameron miserable, just so I would be back here with you. And now that Brendan's here, you're rearing an even uglier head than usual by pretending to have written the letters when you didn't!" She slammed both hands onto the desk dramatically to fit the mood. "If you wanted me, you should've said so from the start, not left little clues for me to pick up along the way."

"I don't want you," House lied, screwing his face up in a grimace. "What makes you think that? I hate the administrative type. I just don't want you going out with this creep."

"Well, I am. You have no say over it. Get out of my office and stay out, unless you have a point."

She stood up and stepped over to her filing cabinet.

"I already have a point."

"A _good_ point. Or maybe I should say a _purpose_." She had her back turned to him and reached into the filing cabinet to get working on files that were way overdue.

"I have a purpose, too," he said, voice coming from directly behind her. He was no more than two feet away from her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, closing the file cabinet, afraid to turn around.

"Proving it."

"House, don't," she whispered, but didn't sound like she was fighting him.

She felt a hand wrap around her arm and spin her around to face him. She gave in easily. Her breath was caught in her throat at just their closeness alone.

He leaned in and kissed her without warning. And she let him. The last time they kissed, they didn't use much tongue, if at all. Now, House made sure to give her the kiss that made every woman go weak at the knees. If there was one thing Gregory House was good at, it was kissing.

Only Cuddy didn't respond once it started getting too intense. She pulled her head back and brought the files up in between their faces.

"Get out," she breathed, but unable to move. She continued to stare back into his eyes.

"You kissed back," he reminded in a low voice.

"Automatic response," she said.

House scoffed. "Bull. You kissed back because it meant something. Brendan's a mistake."

"I love him," she said, wearing a straight face.

"You don't know him!" House was loud again. It was hard for him to hear her say that. The only men Cuddy had ever said 'I love you' to were the men in her family. She never said it to any of her dates. Now, she said it so easily and that infuriated him.

Cuddy shifted away from him. "I wish you would stop saying that."

"You're smarter than this, Cuddy. You've never told a guy in your whole life that you loved them and you come to this conclusion after only a week of knowing this person. I know your days are running short, but come on! It doesn't mean you have to tell the next Joe that knocks on your door that you love him!"

"Get out," she repeated, sitting at her desk. "He's going to be here in five hours and I haven't gotten anything done yet."

"Because you were too busy drooling in your morning coffee."

"Goodbye, House," she said simply, getting back to work.

House left after that without another word. He planned to speak to Brendan when he got here and it wasn't going to be pretty.

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Brendan had just put another picture of Cuddy up onto his wall. He securely taped in place. She was leaving to go to work this morning and her smile was so picturesque that he just had to capture the moment. It helped that he already had a camera on a tripod in place at the window. He didn't lie to her when he said he enjoyed taking pictures. It's what he took pictures of that he lied about. He did have a darkroom in the basement and dozens of boxes filled to the brim with pictures, but not pictures one would think of. Brendan wanted to travel the world for one thing—prey. His MO was charming beautiful women, getting them in his grasp just far enough for them to start trusting him, and then he would make them suffer. He thrived on watching them beg for their lives. The pictures in the boxes were of just that. They were his past victims doing various things. Some escaped, some didn't. He never stayed in one place very long to be caught. He would flee the state regardless after the job was done. His calling card was leaving the bodies of the women behind in whatever place he used to do his business—warehouses, abandoned buildings, or just ordinary every day run of the mill homes or apartments. Brendan liked to rent homes in the same neighborhood as his victims. It was a lot less suspicious that way. They always fell for the new guy on the block spiel.

He never used the same identity twice and that helped him not to get caught. He would give himself a grace period of about a month, change his name, his ID, social security number, and any other necessities before moving onto his next victim, charming each and every one of them uniquely.

But Lisa was different. She was extra special to him. Not only did he want her all to himself, but he wanted those involved in her life to be affected as well. He wanted to torment those she loved and witness her agonize over it. He didn't wish to hurt her directly. If anything, he wanted her to join him. She was definitely easy to get into his grasp. He almost hoped she didn't fall for the letters. He hated that he would eventually have to treat her like all the others. It's who he was. It was a giant thrill for him to see one beg for their life.

Instead of going straight in for the kill with Lisa, he was going to change his MO slightly and keep her around for a bit. In the end, it's just too easy. Women are such suckers for love that they'll go for anyone with good looks and a sense of humor.

Lisa didn't know what she was in for.

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Cuddy was out in the clinic around five, signing off on patient's charts when Brendan walked in from the lobby. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him walking through the doors, holding a single rose. She nearly fainted. He was gorgeous! He also managed to catch the eyes of the nurses that walked by. Nurse Brenda was particularly amazed.

"Is that him?" she asked Cuddy, eyes wide.

Cuddy nodded. "Yep," she said, almost dazed.

He was even more attractive today than he was yesterday. Maybe it was the florescent lighting that illuminated his stunning features. All Cuddy knew was that she was the luckiest woman alive right now.

With everyone watching, he approached her and kissed her on the mouth. It was a simple kiss, but Cuddy melted right into it. The nurses in the area, including Cameron, who was on her way up from the ER to deliver some charts to the clinic when she stopped in her tracks to witness the kiss. She was just as shocked as the rest of the nurses who stopped and gawked for a moment.

When the kiss broke, Cuddy flushed. She couldn't stop smiling, even when she told her employees to get back to work.

"Dr. Cuddy, I need you to sign this," Cameron said, casually approaching them and handing her a chart. She couldn't remove her eyes off Brendan. "Hello," she said when Cuddy took the chart. She extended her hand. "I'm Dr. Cameron."

Brendan shook it, smiling back. "Brendan. Nice to meet you, Dr. Cameron."

So this was the creepy stalker guy who wrote the letters? He certainly had Cameron fooled! Brendan didn't look like the type to hurt a fly.

Cameron excused herself and left to head back to the ER. Brendan watched her leave, closely checking her out. She wouldn't be a bad test subject.

Cuddy then excused herself to go back to her office and grab her things. Brendan waited in the clinic, smiling at those who gawked at him. He was aware that everyone thought he was a stalker because of his communication only being through letters. He liked that he could prove them wrong, even though it was partially the truth that he was a stalker. But he was smart. And confident. However, there was one person who vowed to bring out his true colors. It was a certain someone that was lingering in the corner all this time, watching him like a hawk.

"Hey, you!" House said, limping towards Brendan once Cuddy was out of sight.

Brendan turned his head at the voice.

"Yeah, you," House said, quieter once he reached him. "So you're the shadow who's been writing her letters."

Brendan played the good guy, but also played the nervous guy. "Um…yeah," he said, extending his hand. "Brendan Weatherlee. Letters are my way of formal introduction. I'm not a stalker."

House never shook his hand. He didn't even acknowledge it was being reached out to him.

"You were the one at her house last night, weren't you?" Brendan asked, remembering the limp.

House nodded. "Yeah. Cuddy and I are close. In fact, we're closer than close. Sometimes it's hard to know what that woman wants, you know," he said, following a chuckle. "Watch her when it's that time of the month. You won't know whether she wants to rip your hair out or her own. Believe me, neither sight is pretty. She gave me a bald spot last month because of it."

Brendan chuckled. "Lisa did say you were a handful. She also said not to believe anything you say if you should ever talk to me."

"Ah, but that's just her cover. She wants you to continue to think she's perfect. If you guys ever do get into a fight, watch out for her scream. Not only does she have the biggest mouth known to man, but her shrieking will melt your brain. Oh, and one more thing…she's pregnant with my child. She just doesn't know it yet."

That raised Brendan's eyebrows. Cuddy stepped back into the clinic a moment later, coat on and ready to go. She saw Brendan with House and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever he said, forget it. It's a lie." She glared at House. "Go away."

"Oh, sure, hey, don't mind me, enjoy your date!" House said and backed away. "You might want to get a military cut!"

Cuddy slipped her arm through Brendan's and glared back at House as they left. House watched them leave and share a kiss as they stepped out the door. Instead of his usual shuddering, he had to wonder just how real this relationship was. Cuddy went about this like she was paying him to be her date for something. She was too head over heels in love with this guy. Every time House looked into her office today, she would be either staring off into space or staring at the document in front of her, unmoving. She had a smile on her face the entire time. There wasn't a moment today where the twinkle in her eye was absent. Brendan made her happy and House couldn't accept that. He figured there must be a hidden agenda.

"No, you _hope_ that there's a hidden agenda so you can play hero and rescue Cuddy," Wilson said a moment later when House told him what just happened in the lobby. "You're pissed that she picked Brendan over you."

"I don't care that she didn't pick me. I don't want her."

"Yes, you do."

"I just don't want her with that loser."

"He seems nice," he said.

"How would you know? You talk to Cuddy about him?"

Wilson's shoulders slowly went into a shrug. "In passing, yeah. She said he was a sweet guy and that she was very happy with him, so I'm happy for her."

House scoffed. "He's not a nice guy and he's far from sweet. Just because he takes her to expensive Italian restaurants and buys her a dozen roses every time he lays eyes on her doesn't make him a good guy. It means he's hiding something and he's trying to butter her up so when he tells her what that something is, she'll be okay with it."

Wilson was amazed. "You have everything figured out, don't you?"

"I know guys like him. He's trying too hard to be perfect. Cuddy better open up her broadminded little eyes or else she won't be prepared when the bastard starts showing his true self."

Wilson cleared his throat. "Do I detect jealousy?"

"I'm not jealous! Why does everyone think I'm jealous? I can't stand Cuddy, but that doesn't mean I want some jerk taking advantage of her either."

"What do you mean you can't stand Cuddy?" Wilson asked, bearing a frown.

"I mean that I can't stand Cuddy, it's what it sounds."

"You love her and it shows."

House spat a laugh. "Ha, that's funny, Jimmy, you should be a comedian."

"You're so focused on her love life that it's almost sickening."

"She's had dates before."

"Yeah, dates you've sabotaged because you're in love with her."

"Okay, love and in love are two different things, Jimbo, and neither of those have Cuddy's name on them."

"Then why are you doing this?"

House stopped pacing and moving around. He couldn't stand still since he stepped foot into Wilson's office until now.

"I told you already. You deaf now, too? It's because I don't trust him."

"You're never going to trust any of Cuddy's dates because you want her for yourself."

House groaned loudly in frustration. "You say that one more time and you get a forearm to the throat."

Wilson held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, fine, but if this relationship does end badly, I know who will be there to pick up the pieces."

"I'll give you a front row ticket to watch."

Wilson smiled small as House left his office.

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	7. Seventh Heaven

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**This story has jumped from the T rating to M, due to Cuddy taking her relationship with Brendan to the next level..**

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"You sure you don't want to go to your house instead of mine? I'll tell Sarah to sit with Rachel for a couple more hours, I'm sure she won't mind."

Brendan laughed quietly. "My house is such a mess, believe me, you don't want to go there. Not only do I have photo equipment everywhere, but there are boxes on boxes to boot."

Cuddy didn't think anything of it and shrugged. "That's fine. Just to let you know, my house isn't exactly spic and span either. Ever since Rachel came, it's constant chaos."

"I don't mind either way, because I plan to make us a fabulous scrod and shrimp dinner anyway."

A huge grin came to Cuddy's face. "You brought dinner with you?"

He thumbed to the backseat of the car. "Yep."

Cuddy's mouth dropped. Is there no end to his kindness? She almost cried.

"You don't have to keep buying me things, Brendan."

"I know you don't like to be spoiled, Lisa, but with me, you'll just have to get used to it." He rested his hand on her covered leg. "I'm not rich, but I have money and no place to put it, so let me spoil you. You deserve it. Just think of it as all the dates you missed out in your life clumped together as one."

Her eyes grew misty. "You've already done too much already. I couldn't ever repay you."

Brendan glanced from the road over to her. "See, the beauty of that is -- you don't have to. I don't know what your past dates did for you, but I intend to make you remember me."

"Remember you?" Cuddy questioned with a small chuckle. She was a little worried about that statement. "Is something going to happen where you're just going to be a memory?"

His shoulders slowly lifted into a shrug. "You never know. But for now, you're getting spoiled. Anything you want, it's yours."

Cuddy took his hand into hers. "That sounds wonderful, Brendan, but for tonight, how about we just hang out at my place."

He nodded. "Okay, that sounds good to me."

They arrived at her house seconds later. Cuddy released her nanny and woke Rachel up for her bottle.

"Do you want to feed her?" Cuddy asked Brendan when Rachel's bottle was ready.

Brendan was a bit hesitant. "I don't know…The last time I held a baby was when my sister had her son thirteen years ago…but I've never fed one."

"Here," Cuddy said, passing Rachel to him. "It's easy."

Once Brendan had Rachel in the proper cradling position, Cuddy angled the bottle so that once Rachel was sucking on it, Brendan could easily hold onto it. Cuddy nearly melted when she stepped back and watched him feed her baby. Tears came to her eyes. He was perfect! It only made her love him even more than she did at the hospital today. She placed a hand over her chest to feel her quickened heartbeat. The way he held Rachel so expertly done and talked to her, it made him the perfect father figure. The smile on his face said it all.

Brendan was the one. It only took a few notes, flowers, and a date for her to realize that. If Cuddy was smitten before, she was infatuated now. Her limbs starting to become weak was a sign.

"She's looking right up at me," Brendan said with a smile.

"It means she's thanking you for feeding her," Cuddy said, reading that in a parenting magazine.

"Yeah? Well, if that's the case, you're welcome my little princess," he said to Rachel before passing her back to Cuddy. "She's adorable."

Cuddy thanked him, taking Rachel back. She finished feeding her while Brendan prepared the scrod and rinsed the shrimp. While the scrod was baking in the oven, along with the baked potatoes, and the asparagus was steaming, he and Cuddy played with Rachel a bit. Cuddy got a kick out of when Brendan played 'this little piggy' with her toes. Rachel loved it, too. For only being nine weeks old, she responded with a smile and a small laugh whenever his fingers traveled quickly up her tummy. That reaction amazed Cuddy. Babies don't usually have that reaction until they're almost six months old. Isn't there anything Brendan can't do?

After that, they put her down to bed together. Rachel made no fuss and fell asleep right away. Brendan's arm reached around Cuddy's lower back and held her close, as if this were their baby they were putting down together. They watched her sleep for a bit.

Brendan knew he hit the big one. Fall in love with the baby; you have a free pass to fall in love with the mommy. He smirked a smirk that Cuddy never saw. If only all of them were this easy.

"Thanks for your help," Cuddy said, walking back out into the kitchen with him.

"You're very welcome," he said, checking on their dinner. It still had about five minutes left.

Suddenly, Cuddy's cell phone rang from the other room. She excused herself to answer it, grumbling to herself that it better be good. And it better NOT be House!

She fished through her purse and pulled it out. Sure enough, it was House. The caller ID gave it away. At first, she thought of ignoring it. Being with Brendan was far better than listening to what House had to say. Nevertheless, she did her job and answered the phone. There was a slim chance it would be work related!

"What?" she snapped. She had to do her job, but that doesn't mean she had to be nice about it when she was off the clock.

"And a big hello to you, too, Dr. Cuddy. Enjoying the date so far?" he asked, a sickening happiness lingering in his voice. And then all at once, it disappeared. "He's a murderer."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "That's going a little too far, House, even for you."

"But that's okay, because I plan to rescue you when you fall to pieces. Wilson helped me determine that. He gets front row tickets."

"Thank you, Andrew Squiggman, but I'm not going to need your rescuing, because there's nothing to be rescued from! If you don't mind, we're just about to sit down to dinner."

"And then what? Dessert? Maybe instead of wiping the chocolate sauce off your face, he'll lick it off this time."

Cuddy felt her insides burn up. "You…_spied_ on us last night at Carrabba's?" Her voice was kept low, but very forceful. It shouldn't surprise her. After all, it is House. She knew he was outside her house when they kissed, but it is quite possible, knowing him, that he was spying on them the entire time.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. Two people who are so much in love just tickle my fancy. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside," he said, using a derisive tone.

"Right," she mumbled, occasionally tossing a glance to the doorway to see if Brendan poked his head in at all. "I have to go, House. And just so you know, I'll be drawing every shade in my home, so don't bother peeking in on us."

"Are you sleeping with him?"

"Goodnight, House."

She hung up quickly after that and put her phone on silent. She shouldn't do it, just in case there was an emergency at the hospital, but did it anyway. She wanted to be alone with Brendan.

Getting back to the kitchen, Brendan had their dinner served, topped off with wine and a single rose in a vase in the middle of the table.

"You brought wine, too?" she asked, not seeing that before.

"Just for you," he said, filling up the wine glass beside her dinner plate.

Cuddy thanked him and sat down. He even prepared the scrod the way she liked it—no butter and light on the breadcrumbs.

Is he being a little too giving? Cuddy would see that if she wasn't so head over heels for him. Brendan knew trying to shower her with gifts would eventually raise suspicion. He had to cut back. Cuddy was not one that liked to be smothered. He didn't want to drive her away.

"You're not much of a butter fan, are you?" he asked, noticing she was eating her baked potato dry while he loaded his up with butter, along with his asparagus.

"I try to stay away from it if I can avoid it." She tasted a bite of her fish and marveled at how it practically melted in her mouth. "Wow, this is fantastic."

Brendan thanked her. Not only was he completely wonderful in every way possible, he was a fantastic cook!

"I'd marry you after this meal," Cuddy half joked, eating another bite right after the first one.

"Let's take it one step at a time," he joked back, causing a laugh from Cuddy.

"So…I'm curious…In the letters you said that you heard from a neighbor that I plant roses in the summertime. Who did you talk to?" she asked, pulling the tail off a shrimp before biting into it. Brendan snapped his fingers in thought, although he had no idea what he was going to say. This was something he didn't think she would ask him and didn't have time to think of an answer. Him pretending to think bought him some time.

"The lady next door…I can't remember her name…She has the poodle."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Lucille. Figures."

Brendan's eyes lit up. He was relieved that he suddenly remembered the lady that sat in the chair at the end of her driveway, just to see what was going on around her. However, he never spoke to her before and lied to Cuddy.

"Yes! I was walking through the neighborhood with my dog Harvey a couple weeks ago and ran into her. She called me over to wonder why she hasn't seen me around before. She got to talking about you and that's why I actually started writing to you."

Cuddy smiled. "Really?"

He nodded. "Honestly."

"I don't know her very well, but I'm sure with her being so meddlesome that she knows all about me."

"She knows about everyone. I was talking to her for over an hour," he lied, but making himself sound very convincing. He didn't know anything about her, but played off how Cuddy said she didn't know her. He knew he could make up anything and she'd believe it. "She chewed my ear off over how great the weather's been, where she grew up, about how her husband was in the second World War, being shipped to Leningrad with the Germans, and oh so much more. Harvey started eating grass because he was so bored."

Cuddy chuckled at the joking face he made. "What did she say about me?"

Brendan was slick. He wouldn't allow himself to slip up. He wouldn't even show it in his face that he wasn't sure how to answer that. He said whatever came off the top of his head. "Well…" He took a sip of wine to give him the time to think of something. "She said that she never gets to see you because you're always on the go, but when she meets you in the yard every now and then, she likes to pry."

Cuddy laughed aloud. "Yeah, she does. The last time I saw her, I was with Rachel. Of course, she already knew I had a baby and told the entire block before I had a chance to bring her home. My life is practically an open book thanks to her. How's the scrod?" she asked, taking another bite of hers.

"Very good. I have to say that's one thing, actually, that's the second thing I got going for me is cooking."

"At least you have something to fall back on."

He nodded. They exchanged smiles.

Cuddy suddenly remembered her date two years ago, Don Herrick. She remembered how he told her whenever she talked to House, she was so focused, confident, and how nothing else in the world was going on. She felt herself feeling that at this very moment for Brendan. Everything else vanished around her when she was with him. The world suddenly felt very small and she was seeing through tunnel vision.

She watched him dig into his baked potato. She smiled. He was so into it that she couldn't help but watch.

He looked up after eating a bite. He froze in mid chew when he saw her eyes on him.

"What?" he asked, holding back a chuckle. "Do I have food on my mouth?" He promptly wiped the corners of his mouth.

Cuddy shook her head. "No." Nevertheless, she continued to laugh.

"Did I miss a joke?" he asked, wondering why she was laughing.

Cuddy felt herself lift right out of her seat. Her body was so light that she couldn't feel the majority of her limbs. She could, however, hear her own heartbeat in her ears, feeling as if she had just ran a mile.

"I think…I'm falling for you," she said, feeling tears of happiness come to her eyes. _I love you._

That statement appeared to have surprised Brendan. "Are you?"

If only it was this easy to charm all the others. Lisa Cuddy was starving for romance and companionship and this proved it. This was only their second date and she was practically melting into a puddle on the floor.

"I'm sorry," Cuddy apologized. "That was inappropriate."_ I want you._

Brendan shook his head. "No, no it wasn't." He kept on his surprise act. "I'm glad you told me, because now that gives me a free invitation to tell you that I think I'm falling for you, too."

Cuddy's eyes widened a few centimeters. "Really? I thought only teenagers felt this way after the second date."

He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "It's been a while since I was with anyone. Before I moved here, I worked a lot. I never had any free time. Dating was out of the question, but when I moved, the first thing I promised myself was that I would get out more. I'm glad I made that choice."

"And I'm glad you sent the letters." Cuddy suddenly felt dizzy, but it was a good kind of dizzy. _Please ask me to marry you. Please ask me to bear your children. Please take me away from this life._

They spent the next few seconds looking into one another's eyes without saying anything. Cuddy couldn't look away, even if she wanted to.

"You're so beautiful, Lisa. Has anyone ever told you that?"

_Of course, but coming from you, it means so much more._ Cuddy nodded. _Coming from you…it's like an angel's delicate whisper…It's like an instant cure for cancer…It's like…_

"Good, because it's true. I feel like the luckiest guy alive."

Cuddy's heart drummed loudly in her chest at that comment. "Oh, Brendan…" she whispered, tears falling down her eyes. "You make me so happy. I didn't know feelings like this existed."

Neither of them were very hungry anymore. They only had one thing on their minds.

"Would you like me to help you expand on those feelings?"

The second Cuddy nodded, the both of them shot out of their chairs in unison and came together at the side of the table, mouths hungrily meeting, erupting in such passion that it caused Cuddy to have to reach her arms around the back of his neck to steady herself. He knocked the wind right out of her. Brendan lifted her left leg up and wrapped it around his waist. He held it there with one hand while the other pressed her lower half up against his own to show her even further how badly he wanted her. Cuddy didn't fight it. She welcomed it.

_Make love to me. Show me that no one else exists. Show me that it's just us, just two people in the entire world._

Cuddy never had sex on the second date. Usually, she would wait until either the fifth or sixth, depending on how good those dates went. She would've slept with Brendan yesterday if he agreed to come in after their date. His kisses left her in a puddle of goo. She barely even noticed him hoisting her up so now both legs wrapped around his waist. He carried her into the bedroom that way, never breaking the kiss.

He was so gentle. He laid Cuddy on the bed and instead of ripping her buttoned blouse open in the heat of the moment, he took care in unbuttoning each button individually until both halves of the shirt were separated. He kept his mouth plenty busy in the meantime. His lips went from Cuddy's mouth, to her jaw line, and to her neck, where he promptly nibbled little love bites and before traveling to her chest, he sucked a piece of skin so hard that it caused Cuddy to flinch. There would be a hickey there in the morning.

He set himself in between her legs and inched them apart with his knee. Cuddy reached behind her back to unclip her bra. Brendan slid it off her arms and tossed it onto the floor. Cuddy gasped in sheer ecstasy as his endowed mouth devoured her right breast and bit the nipple once it became erect. The more he paid attention to her breasts and fired her body up, the more the spot in between her legs pulsed hotly, waiting for action. Cuddy bucked her hips up against him to tell him she wanted him to touch her down there, but he wouldn't give in. Not yet anyway. When he didn't get the message, Cuddy groaned helplessly.

"Patience, my love," he breathed.

"Please, Brendan, I want you…" she whispered, out of breath.

"And I want you, too, but I don't want to rush it."

Their eyes met. Cuddy could see the love in his eyes directed only at her. The twinkle in his eye made her heart skip a beat. She had never wanted something so bad than she wanted him in this very moment. Where was he her whole life?

"I love you…" Cuddy whispered, barely moving her mouth and not taking her eyes off his. The backs of his fingers lightly brushed up against her cheek and his thumb grazed over her moist lips. She trembled beneath him. He was so gentle.

At first, she didn't think he heard her, but as a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, she realized he did.

"I love you, too, Lisa," he whispered and captured her lips again.

Whether it was the heat of the moment that she said this or not, Brendan wasn't sure. A part of him hoped it was just the heat of the moment. He hated to think about doing what he had to do later on to someone who loved him. If his past victims loved him, they never said so, making it easy on him. They also meant nothing to him. Lisa meant something to him and he kicked himself mentally for it.

In Brendan's sick, twisted world of thinking, the more he loved someone, the more he wanted them to suffer. It was a thrill thing. He didn't understand it, but knew it made him feel good when someone he loved was hurting.

But that would come later. Right now, he planned to give Cuddy what she wanted. He wanted to hear her cry out his name.

Brendan made love to her that night. It was a love that she had never felt before and it made her cry right in the middle of it.

"Are you okay?" he asked, seizing his thrusts. "Am I hurting you?"

Cuddy shook her head no and told him to go on. She couldn't remember the last time she had sex, or what it was like for that matter, but knew for sure it wasn't anything like how passionate Brendan was giving it to her right now, she needed to experience it more often.

Brendan kissed her tears away as his pace picked up a bit. Cuddy held him closer to her, as if he were going to just up and walk away or disappear right in the middle of it.

Cuddy saw stars. She never saw stars before. Between Brendan lightly grunting in her ear with every thrust and his hands at her breasts, her sexual intensity heightened. The feeling spread every inch through her body, fanning out from her fingers to the tip of her toes.

When she felt herself nearing her first orgasm of the night, she whispered breathlessly for him to give it to her harder. He did as she requested and was rewarded with Cuddy's cries of elation that filled the room. He found himself looking into her eyes when he pulled his head back to witness the look she gave him. He couldn't help himself. He kissed her. She was just too beautiful to resist.

She orgasmed three times in the time it took him to orgasm, due to her not having sex in a long time. The noises she made, the trembling of her body, and the sexy grimaces on her face when she came finally set Brendan off. He quickened the pace like none he's done so far and came hard--so hard that he didn't think he would ever stop.

They shared a kiss of extreme passion. Both bodies were covered in a thin film of sweat as they struggled to catch their breath.

Their night didn't stop there. Cuddy was starving for sex and wanted Brendan to give her his all.

Brendan smirked. He was with a beautiful woman and the sex was fantastic.

It didn't get any better than this.

-----------------

**Please review! Thanks for reading! :)**


	8. Not So Pleasant Morning After

**Thanks everyone for the great reviews! They really mean a lot!**

**From here on in, Brendan's going to start showing his true colors...so he won't be the sweet guy we all know and love..**

**And of course that means that House will be around a lot more!**

**Anyway, enjoy :)**

---------------------------

The most annoying sound in the world filled Cuddy's ears the next morning. It was her alarm clock, going off at seven-thirty, telling her to wake up for work. Normally, she would be out of bed right with no problems after waking up, but this morning, all she wanted to do was sleep. She shut the alarm clock off with a groan, angry that the sun came up again.

She felt a body press up behind her and smiled tiredly.

"Does that mean you have to leave me?" Brendan asked with a tired mumble, wrapping his hand around her waist.

"I'm afraid so," she said, closing her eyes again.

"Call in sick." He didn't take his arm from around her.

She leaned her head back into his chest and sighed contently. "I can't. Sarah's going to be here at eight and I have a board meeting at noon to discuss…something about a new hospital lawyer and then someone in NICU quit for the first time in five years, so I have to go over files upon files of job applications and review them before handing them to the lead…"

"But you don't have any reason to go in now, do you? Come on, baby, you know you want to stay. After last night…you must be exhausted."

They only got about two hours of sleep. Cuddy's bed was a disaster. The sheets were completely pulled out from being tucked in and her comforter was laying haphazardly off one corner of the bed, near Cuddy's feet. Her head wasn't even laying on a pillow. She woke up after sleeping on her arm.

"The charts can't review themselves," Cuddy said sympathetically, looking up at him from his chest. She found his hand with her own and interlocked fingers. "I'm sorry. You can come back over tonight, though. Tomorrow's Saturday and I don't usually work Saturdays unless I have a lot of work to catch up on. We can sleep in tomorrow morning," she purred.

Brendan smiled. "I like the sound of that," he said and leaned down to kiss her.

Cuddy then got out of bed, completely naked. She reached for her white bathrobe hanging up near the bed and donned it.

Brendan sat up, wiping the tiredness from his face. "What do you want to do about dinner tonight?" he asked.

"I was thinking about grabbing a bite to eat at the hospital. I'll be there later than usual tonight, and—"

"You said we were going to spend the evening together." For the first time, Cuddy saw Brendan somewhat angry. Maybe not severely angry, but a depressed sort of angry. It caused her to frown. He was completely serious.

"After I get out of work. The meeting will take at least three hours and the NICU reviews take a lot of time."

"Can't you do that when you get there this morning?"

Perhaps Brendan wasn't a morning person. "I could…but I have my morning booked for chart reviews and then I add a little extra time in there just in case House decides to come in and disrupt my day," she added with a chuckle.

"House. It's always about House. You can't stay an extra few hours in bed because of _him_?"

Cuddy's jaw dropped. Was this the same man she was with last night?

"I can't stay in bed because I have a job I'm committed to, Brendan," she said, surprised by the harshness of his attitude. "What's wrong with you?"

"House is what's wrong with me. If he's not knocking on your front door, he's calling you or trying to intimidate your dates. Now I hear that you actually set aside a few minutes of the day, just to argue with him." He laughed, but no humor came from it. He got out of bed and dressed himself. "That's just great."

"Are you…_jealous_ of House?"

"Jealous of the attention you give him, yes. I know he followed us around when we went on our date and I know he was here last night, too."

"He wasn't here—"

"Yes he was, Lisa!" Brendan shouted, shutting Cuddy up. "You said you closed the blinds, but did you? You practically _let_ him watch you. Is that some sort of cheap thrill or are you too much of a softy to tell him to go screw off?"

Cuddy more than deadpanned at his bluntness. Anyone would've thrown him out by now if he started yelling at them and making crazy accusations. Not Cuddy. "I tell him every time I see him to leave me alone! If you think you have better luck at it, be my guest!"

"Oh, you bet I will," he said, throwing on his shirt. "The next time he has the nerve to come into my face, he'll need a wheelchair instead of a cane."

Tears came to Cuddy's eyes. This event saddened her completely. "What's wrong with you?! Why are you being like this?!"

"Don't shout at me, Lisa," he said, pointing to her.

"I'm not shouting, I'm—"

"Don't argue with me, either."

He stepped towards her. She found herself stepping backwards, but couldn't go very far, for she had backed into a small table.

"Brendan, what's wrong?" Cuddy wanted to reason with him. She hated seeing him like this. The love she felt in her heart for him wanted to live on. She was willing to do anything for him.

"You're not going to learn, are you, Lisa?" he asked, getting mere inches away from her. "I said not to argue with me."

"I'm not!" she defended.

"If you ever hope to advance in our relationship, I want you to get rid of House. I want him gone from the hospital and gone from your life. And then I never want to hear his name again. I don't even want to hear you call what you're living in a 'house,' do you understand me?"

Cuddy agreed. Her infatuation with him was distorting her sense of right and wrong.

"Good," he said and leaned in to kiss her. Cuddy kissed back, completely unaware of the seriousness of his threat. Cuddy was very smart, so why couldn't she catch on and understand what the love she felt for this man was wrong? She was never a fan of the domineering type and even talked her sister out of a few of those relationships growing up. She could use some of her own advice now. Brendan was brainwashing her.

"See you tonight. I want you home at five sharp, or I'm coming to get you."

Cuddy nodded in agreement. Brendan lifted her chin and smiled.

"Come on, Lisa, show me that beautiful smile I love so much."

Cuddy smiled. It was half forced, meaning there was time to pull her back from this. But how much time? How much longer before she falls completely under his spell?

"That's my girl. See you tonight, babe," he said, tapping her left ass cheek before leaving.

Anyone else would be afraid of what just happened! Cuddy was in complete denial and her love for Brendan grew even stronger after saying he would see her tonight, but right now, the only thing she was thinking of was that she needed to get into the shower before Sarah came over and get to work to start on clinic chart reviews.

---------------

"So how did boy wonder perform in the sack?" House asked, entering her office, sucking on a red lollypop. "I assume you slept with him."

"Assume, or _saw_?" Cuddy asked, not bothering to look up at him as she did her chart reviews.

House wasted no time in coming to bother her that morning. When she saw House, her mind automatically went back to what Brendan said for her to do. He wanted her to fire House and then he never wanted to hear his name again. House continued talking, but Cuddy didn't hear him. Instead, she heard Brendan's voice in her head, telling her to get rid of him. He was so serious about it. Could he be jealous of House? But why? There's nothing at all to be jealous about when it comes to House! He had no reason to feel this way.

Cuddy couldn't get rid of House. He was the best doctor in her hospital. Okay, so his bedside manner needed to be worked on, but he was still a terrific doctor, nonetheless.

"You're not even listening to me, are you?" he asked, noticing her blank stare.

"Nope," she said, wearing a brief smile before getting back to work.

"I _said_ that I liked seeing your bare ass, and then I said I didn't like seeing his next to yours."

"Too bad, get used to it, because he's going to be around for a long time."

"Oh dear god please tell me he didn't ask you to marry him," he said with plenty of sarcasm to go around.

"No, but he did tell me to get rid of you."

His face fell serious, but only for a second before he started laughing. "What a jerk."

"He's not a jerk," she said. "He's right. I should fire you for all the hell you put me through over the years."

"But you're not going to, because you love me," he said, dramatically placing his hand over his heart with a love-struck sigh. "Give me a break, Cuddy. You're only saying this now because he told you to do it. If he told you to jump off the hospital roof, you'd do that, too."

She eyed him. "I'm perfectly capable of having my own thoughts, thank you."

"I bet he told you to fire me today, otherwise he'd never see you again. It's classic jealousy. And since you're so damn obsessed with him, I bet you're searching in that little head of yours the perfect way to can me without making it sound completely dreadful."

"Get out," she murmured.

House hummed in thought. "You didn't deny it. Interesting. He really did tell you to fire me, didn't he?" House shouldn't be surprised, but his face showed that he was.

"Yes, he did," Cuddy said, meeting his eyes. "And you're making it way too easy with influencing my decision."

"I'm just doing what I do every day. I reserve a certain part of the day to come and annoy you. Now all of a sudden because some jackass worms his way into your life and says boo, you alter your life to honor his every command?"

Cuddy said nothing. She was being unusually quiet today.

"He's going to hurt you, both physically and mentally."

"What do you care, House?" she asked, following a sigh. "I'm happy for once in my life, why can't you accept that? Why do you have to be such a jerk?"

"I would accept it if you were happy with the right person."

"Right person meaning you, right?"

"Right person meaning someone who has the balls to meet you face to face, not charm the pants off you by writing letters. And you're not happy right now. Yesterday, you were happy. Today, you should be glowing because you had sex last night for the first time in months. Instead, you're quiet and tentative. Either he said more than just a mere threat of telling you to fire me…or there's a bigger picture involved."

"Please leave, House," she whispered, throwing her hand over her face. "I can't do this right now."

"If you don't stop, you won't be able to do _anything_ very soon."

Just then, a delivery boy came in with a dozen red roses. Cuddy's head poked up immediately at the sight of them. She stood, taking them into her arms with thanks. House scowled the entire time.

"Great, he tells you to fire me and then sends you flowers," House muttered. "Are they a reward for doing so?"

Cuddy read the card. A genuine smile came to her face.

_To the most beautiful woman in the world. I look forward to tonight. Love always, Brendan._

"Is there a P.S. on there asking you if I was fired?" he asked.

Cuddy didn't answer him. She didn't even acknowledge his presence anymore. She was too busy staring at the card.

"Cuddy," House said simply.

Still nothing.

"Hellooo."

Nothing.

"Lisa!"

Cuddy finally looked up. That was such a foreign name on his tongue. "You didn't have to shout, House," she said. "I'm right here."

She was far from the truth.

"Evidently not," he said bitterly and left her office.

------------------

"She's…in love," Wilson said simply when House told him about how Cuddy was acting.

"Cuddy doesn't fall in love," House said, unable to stand still.

"Because she hasn't found the right guy. Now, she has. I'm happy for her."

"Good for you. I think he's as fake as his letters are."

"Wanna take a seat?" Wilson asked. "You're going to burn a hole in my carpet."

House ignored him. "What is so…_charming_ about that jerk? So he takes her to fancy restaurants and buys her dinner to cook at home…"

"Yeah, what a jerk," Wilson said sarcastically. "Let it go, House."

"Cuddy doesn't need someone to spend so much on her. Actually, she hates it when guys open doors for her or pick up the tab."

"So?"

"She's letting him do it!" House said, raising his voice a little. Either he's manipulating her or it's the other way around. She would never give in so easily. She has standards that she won't break because of some Joe that sends her letters and flowers."

"Unless she loves him."

"It was only the second date! It's been a week since she's known him and half those days were spent writing letters. Cuddy doesn't fall in love so fast, hence the fact she hasn't had a boyfriend in years."

"Because she hasn't met the right one until now. Sometimes all it takes is a letter to fall in love. Ever see _Lake House_?"

"That's a _movie_, Jimmy, this is real life. And plus they lived like X amount of years apart."

"It's the concept, House," Wilson said with a sigh. Sometimes it's like explaining things to a child. "The point is that Lisa likes this guy and she's happy. Frankly, I like it that she's happy."

"She was happy when she got the kid, does she really need to be happy-_er_? Never figured her the greedy type."

"There's no limits on happiness, House. How about you go find some and leave me alone."

"Happiness is for suckers, Jimmy. Cuddy's living proof of that."

Both heads turned when Wilson's office door opened. It was Cuddy. Judging by the angry look on her face, she heard everything. She glared at House, but walked towards Wilson's desk with some charts for oncology. Wilson thanked her when she plopped them down in front of him. Her glare on House didn't let up. She leaned up against Wilson's desk and stuck her hand to her hip.

"Do you have a problem with me?" she asked House.

House hummed and glanced up into the air before looking at Wilson. He blocked the side of his mouth from Cuddy with his hand, as if he was telling a secret to Wilson and he didn't want her reading his lips.

"And another thing, Jimmy," he said, clearly loud enough for the both of them to hear. "Brendan wants Cuddy to fire me, so now she's hoping I'll say the wrong thing and make the transition easy for her."

Wilson brought his brows closer. "Seriously?" His eyes met Cuddy's.

"Yeah, _seriously_," House said. "Can you believe that my career is cut short because some stalker can't stand my guts? Or can't stand me being near Cuddy all day, take your pick. I'm sure they are both right."

Cuddy just left. A mixture of worry and anger lingered in her eyes.

"She won't fire me, no matter how infatuated she is with him," House said, completely sure. "No man can come between us!" He threw a clenched fist in the air, signaling his victory.

"Do you really think that he wants her to fire you?" Wilson asked.

House nodded. "Definitely. I just hope that Miss Partypants can stick up for herself in front of him."

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	9. Guardian Angel

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A week passed, and then two. House found himself a frequent peeping tom at Cuddy's place. Brendan was with her every night from the moment she got home from work until the moment she left for work the next morning. One night, House heard them arguing, but they kissed and made up, followed by a full night of passion. Cuddy forgave him, like always. The nights House wasn't there to watch them fight, he could always tell they did, because Cuddy would get flowers the next morning at work. Brendan never apologized; he would always say he looked forward to tonight. Despite House being who he is, he was growing more and more concerned for Cuddy. She came to work on time, did what she had to do, and left, but she wasn't herself. She wasn't the usual Cuddy that everyone knew. Some mornings, she would lose her temper and nag at her employees, and other mornings she refused to talk to anyone. And House knows she's been crying in her office. He caught her once a couple days ago, but she refused to give him any hints when he asked why she was crying.

It was because of Brendan. He was hurting her mentally and would yell at her for every little thing. The stress became too much on Cuddy and she would come to work in tears. House wasn't the only one who noticed. Wilson finally noticed also. Since the hospital really was a rumor mill, it got around the hospital that Cuddy was being abused by her boyfriend, which wasn't a total lie, but when they say abuse, they mean physically. There were no signs of physical abuse, but House wouldn't put it past Brendan. It was bound to happen.

The morning before this one, she came to work in tears and tried to hide it. House was in the lobby with Wilson, getting him to buy him a newspaper when they turned their heads in unison and saw her walking through quickly to the clinic, hiding her face. The first thing House thought was that Brendan hit her. He tossed the newspaper aside and limped as quickly as he could to her office, face contorted in anger, wanting answers. Wilson followed him, just as concerned.

Brendan didn't hit her, but he did physically attack her. He didn't want her to come into work that morning and grabbed her to make her stop. Her upper arms were grabbed so tightly that bruises started forming. Cuddy tried wearing quarter sleeves to cover them, but House was persistent. He saw how tenderly she moved her arms and made her show him the bruises.

House wanted to kill him. If it weren't for Cuddy pleading with him not to get involved, he would've found him somehow. Cuddy still didn't know where he lived. He would always be at her house when she got home.

Nevertheless, she and Brendan made up that night, like always, and spent the night together. She would always give into his apologies very easily and that was that. Everyone noticed Cuddy's drastic mood change since she started going together with Brendan. She was seeing him for three weeks now and every day, she grew more and more solemn.

And then today…she didn't show up at all. There was no answer on her cell. House was worried. Extremely. He left without telling his fellows or anyone else. He knew in his gut that Brendan did something to Cuddy and kicked himself mentally for not doing anything about it sooner.

When he arrived at Cuddy's, Brendan's car was in the driveway. Surprise, surprise. House parked his bike and while he walked up the driveway, he heard something crash and break, followed by Rachel staring to wail.

"Can't you shut that kid up for one second?! She cries all night and you yell at me?!"

That's all House needed to hear. Brendan's voice was so loud that he heard it outside, clear as day. He opened the door with one of Cuddy's secret keys and walked in with a vengeance, not really caring or thinking about what Brendan would do to him as a result.

"You're not worth all that money I spent on you, Lisa! All the other women would at least thank me!" His voice was so loud that it sounded like his voice was popping up in every room in the house.

"I never asked you to buy me things!" Cuddy yelled back, followed by Rachel crying even harder.

"Shut her up or I'll shut her up for you!"

House appeared in the doorway belonging to the kitchen. Cuddy was a mess. Her hair was unwashed and she was still in her bathrobe, even though she was supposed to be at work two hours ago. Her cheeks had visible tear lines on them, telling House that she's been crying for a while now.

"Hey!" House yelled over the noise from the doorway, causing Cuddy to gasp and spin around to him, bouncing a sobbing Rachel in her arms. Her jaw dropped. He's the last person she expected to see right now.

"House! What are you doing here?!"

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, followed by a glare directed at Brendan. "What the hell's going on in here?"

"That's none of your business," Brendan said, clearly pissed that House interrupted their spat. He was also annoyed that Rachel continued to cry at the top of her lungs. It infuriated him so badly that he reached over and tried to rip her from Cuddy's arms.

Cuddy refused to let go, yelling at Brendan to stop. Rachel's cry turned into a yell of distress as she was tugged on. Apparently, both forgotten that House was there. He kindly reminded them of his presence when Brendan was popped in the jaw, sending him stumbling backwards.

"Don't ever touch the kid again," he growled, shooting dagger eyes at him.

"House, leave!" Cuddy said, feeling frustrated that he was interfering and angry that he hit Brendan.

"Next time it won't be the kid, Cuddy, it'll be you," House said, watching Brendan recover. "In fact, it's already been you, hasn't it?"

"You better get the hell out of here if you know what's good for you," Brendan said, touching his tender jaw with the tips of his fingers.

"Oh you're such a tough guy, aren't you, beating on women the way you do."

"He's never hit me," Cuddy said, voice filled with worry, trying to pull House back by his arm. It wasn't that strong of a hold and he could easily rip through her grasp if he wanted to.

"Yes he has," House spat, noticing a small split on her lip that only angered him further. "Stop sticking up for him all the time. Why don't you get out of here and stop smothering her before I do more than punch you in the face."

"Looks like you're the one she wants gone, buddy," Brendan said, but kept his distance. He didn't hit him back after House threw the first punch, even though his tightened fists begged him to do so.

"House, please," Cuddy begged, still trying to calm Rachel down over all the yelling, "just go."

"I'm not going anywhere," House said, firmly planting his feet where he stood. "Not until he leaves first."

"House—"

"Fine," Brendan said, throwing up his hands in surrender, but did so half reluctantly. Rachel finally stopped crying once everyone stopped yelling, allowing him to be able to think. His glare never let up on House. "I'll leave, but I'm not going far, so watch it." He leaned over to kiss Cuddy. It pissed House off further knowing she accepted that kiss, acting like none of this just happened.

House stepped off to the side and waved his hand towards the door in the kitchen. "After you, sir," he said sarcastically.

Brendan stepped up to the now open path to the door, but stopped at House along the way. "I'll be back tonight and you better not be," he said and then stormed out.

House didn't start speaking until he heard the front door slam. Cuddy beat him to it.

"Get out," she said, voice full of heavy defeat and walked out of the kitchen through another doorway, one that lead to the hall. House followed quickly on her heels.

"What the hell was that?!" he asked loudly. "Did that asshole actually have the balls to hit you?!"

Cuddy lead House to her room, probably on accident with the lack of nowhere else to go once she passed every other room going down the hall. House's eyes immediately widened the moment he stepped foot past the door. Everything was thrown around and all the breakable things, including picture frames, were broken. Even the curtain rod was bent at the halfway mark on one of the windows.

"What…happened in here?"

Cuddy laid Rachel down at the foot of the bed and started to sob in her hands once they were free.

"God, I love him so much, why does he have to be this way? All I wanted to do was open the curtains to let the sun come in and he flipped out!"

"Cuddy…" House stepped up to her. Seeing her like this lowered his tone incredibly and made him hate Brendan even more. It also scared him in a way, for he never saw her like this. How was he supposed to react? This sort of thing doesn't happen to Cuddy. By now, she would be at work and probably forcing him to do clinic hours. This is one event he never prepared himself for.

Her back still faced him. He reached his hand out and rested it on her shoulder. She didn't move or hurry to brush it off. That was a good sign.

"What have I done wrong?" she asked aloud, voice nearly breaking.

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's not you. Stop thinking that it is. This is your house; you have the right to do whatever you want."

"I just wanted to make him happy. I was going to close the curtains, but he was already out of bed, throwing everything around! He even broke the Menorah that my mom gave me thirty years ago. It was a family heirloom and now it's…" She choked out a sob, "in pieces."

"Lisa…I want you to look at me," he said. "Turn around."

Cuddy did so, but slowly. Her eyes were bloodshot and a small welt that House hadn't noticed before was forming on her cheek. "Oh god," he murmured.

"It's nothing. If I hadn't tried to open the curtains—"

"Stop blaming yourself!" he said suddenly in a loud voice, making her flinch. "He's clouding your better judgment and if you don't stop, he's going to do a lot worse than hit you, do you understand?!"

House wasn't planning to be loud with her. He was fully planning to comfort her and calm her down, but instead of doing that, he was getting her worked up again. "He's going to knock you down, peg by peg, until you feel so low about yourself that you'll want to jump in front of a moving bus to make the pain stop."

"You have no idea what you're talking about!"

"No, but _you_ do," he said, not removing his eyes from hers. He seized both of her hands that rested against her chest gently enough not to alarm her. "For the past week, you've felt like a failure and had no idea why, but you wished it would go away."

"But that doesn't mean I'm suicidal, House!" she said.

"But it does mean you've thought about hurting yourself physically to shift the pain. Believe me, I know all about that. The bottom line, you need to stop seeing him before it gets that far."

Cuddy shook her head. "No. No, I can't. I want him. I need him." Her eyes begged for him to understand.

"You don't need him." He gently cupped her cheeks, brushing the pad of his thumb against the growing welt. It took a lot to restrain himself from screaming the sense into her. He was performing actions that were very unlike him, but for Cuddy, he would allow it to slide. He surprised himself that he was capable of these actions. Cuddy looked like she did the night she lost Joy. Her eyes were a cold grey and her cheeks were stained with trails upon trails of zigzagged tears. "There are plenty of other men out there, ones that you can find, not ones that find you."

"Do you see me having any luck with that?" she asked.

"You didn't have any luck with a kid, but now you have one. You don't need to resort to men that hit you just because you don't think you'll be able to find someone else. You're smarter than this."

"So where do you play in this? You think that because you're here and rescued me from the big bad neighbor, you're my hero? Is that it? You want me to thank you?"

He shook his head. "Wait to thank me when you realize that Brendan is an asshole and removes one of your limbs because you went into the bathroom to pee one morning before he did."

"I'm not leaving him. I love him."

"You don't love him, Cuddy!" House shouted, getting frustrated. "He wants you to _think_ that you love him so he can use you!"

"Use me for what?" she asked, sounding doubted.

"Oh…I don't know…money…sex…Let's face it, you aren't exactly Miss America. Sure, you got the looks and a great ass, but you're middle-aged and you have a newborn. What man is attracted to that? He wants your money and free sex while he's at it and you're giving it to him!"

Cuddy was insulted by that. Her eyes narrowed. "Then why the hell…are _you_ always after me?" she asked, voice firm. "It's obviously not for my money, and since I'm so not Miss America and middle-aged as you so cleverly put it, you must want me solely for the sex. That would make you no better than the way you're describing Brendan."

"I never said I wanted you! Don't make this about me."

"You've been after me for years and since you ingeniously narrowed it down, I assume you're only after me for sex."

"If I want sex, all I have to do is pick up a phone!" Now House was getting angry. It really wasn't about Brendan anymore.

"Then why? Why do you try so hard to get my attention and then when you got it, you walk away like it never happened?!" Cuddy cried. "Is it some sort of perverse bet you have going on with yourself?"

"Yeah, Cuddy, that's exactly what it is. I have a chart I keep up in my office. I give myself a gold star every time I get your attention and once it fills up, I know I'll get laid. You'll find that it's half-full as of two weeks ago. Now get ready, I'm taking you to work so I can keep an eye on you. Where's your nanny?"

"She called in sick," Cuddy said, folding her arms. "That's why I wasn't at work in time today. Despite what you may think, it wasn't because of Brendan."

"Then we're taking the kid with us. Dry those useless tears and let's go."

Cuddy didn't move. "There's no 'us,' House," she said. "And the next time you see Brendan, I want you to apologize to him."

"Apologize for what?!"

"For interfering, and then for hitting him. You had no right."

She poked into her closet and pulled out the first outfit she touched. She didn't feel like digging through to find out which one she liked best. In fact, she really didn't feel like going in today at all.

"And is he going to apologize to you for hurting the kid?"

"He didn't hurt her," Cuddy said, glancing over to Rachel, who was sound asleep on the bed.

"Oh, right, I forgot…he's _perfect_. He didn't do anything wrong. If any other guy hit you, you'd be on the phone with the cops in the ten seconds that followed."

"House, get out. I'll see you at the hospital."

He shook his head. "Nope. Not leaving here without you and the kid."

"Don't be stupid. I still have to take a shower—"

"Then you better go do it. I'll wait with the kid."

"House—"

"Don't make me go into the bathroom with you, Cuddy," he threatened half-jokingly.

"Now look at who's smothering me," she mumbled, walking towards her bathroom. "Watch Rachel."

"Why? Is she going to do something other than sleep?" he asked, glancing back at Rachel, who was sleeping peacefully on Cuddy's bed, as if nothing happened just now.

House sat on the end of Cuddy's bed just as he heard the squeaky water valve turn on in the shower. He glanced to Rachel and stared at her a while before speaking.

"Good thing you're not old enough to understand what's going on," he said and then leaned his head closer to her. "I'm going to teach you a new word…It's called 'denial.' Mommy is full of it. She is also infatuated with a loser and a much bigger jerk than me…if that's possible." He frowned. "You're not listening to me, are you? That's okay, no one ever does."

He stood and snooped around in Cuddy's room. He came across the Menorah by the window. It was, in fact, broken into a few dozen pieces and unfixable.

"Bastard," House muttered.

Even if he started to detox, he would never be angry to the point where he would fly into a rage and trash a room. He especially wouldn't hit a woman. Definitely not Cuddy. The fact that anyone had the nerve to play with her heart and then hit her was just inconceivable. But it's like it never happened! Cuddy refused to see this as a bad thing! She blamed herself and brushed it aside.

House knew she had a problem. Whether this behavior was brought on by fear that this is her last chance at finding love and happiness because of her age, or if it was a true case of love at first sight, she was in trouble and Brendan was loving it. He knew he had Cuddy just where he wanted her. Manipulation achieved.

But when Brendan started to plan, he wasn't aware that Cuddy had a guardian angel. He figured her a lonely single mother with a good job and very little to no friends. He had no idea there was someone in there that would protect her with everything he had.

Cuddy had House. No one came in between that.

House was interrupted when the shower faucet squeaked while turning off. Rachel also started to fuss. House looked over as her little arms and legs started thrashing about.

"Your kid is squirming…and two seconds away from crying!" House shouted loud enough to reach the opposite side of the closed door.

"So then pick her up, House! Make yourself useful!" she shouted back.

House was hesitant. The only time he held Rachel was when Cuddy decided she was keeping her and handed her over to him to hold while they were in his office. To him, that was enough for a lifetime, but because of the events that were coming forth, he figured it might be a good idea that he start to bond with Rachel.

He picked her up and held her close. She immediately stopped squirming and didn't end up crying at all. She looked up at House with her big, blue eyes as he cradled her.

"It's only a necessity, kid, don't get used to it."

She cooed in response and brought her tiny fist to her mouth and started to suck on it, oblivious to the events going on around her.

Just then, Cuddy's cell phone started ringing on her nightstand. He stepped over to see who it was. He grimaced when he saw Brendan's name illuminated, followed by two perfectly filled in hearts. His name was properly capitalized and everything. House was lucky if the first letter of his name in her phonebook was capitalized. It was probably as plain as everyone else's. Only Brendan got the special treatment.

Shifting Rachel to one arm, he picked up the phone and answered it. Cuddy didn't hear it ring and never came out.

"Sorry, she can't come to the phone right now. Her hands and mouth are a little busy. Call back never," he said and hung up the phone.

Cuddy came out of the bathroom with a frown after seeing House with her phone. "Did my phone just ring?"

"Nope!" House said. "I was just looking through your ringtones because I was bored."

"And you told my ringtones to call back never?"

House shrugged. "What can I say, they never listen."

Her phone started to ring again. House cussed mentally. He should've turned it off.

Cuddy snatched the phone from him and answered it. Her face fell into worry as she instantly apologized to Brendan before saying anything else. House brought his brows together. Why did she even need to apologize at all to that creep?

"Oh, yes, Lisa, _faster_!" House shouted loud enough for Brendan to hear it.

Cuddy narrowed her eyes at him. "House, get out!" she yelled back.

"No, I won't get out! You feel so damn _good_!"

Brendan heard all this and his voice could clearly be heard on the other line, screaming at Cuddy to the point where she looked as if she were going to cry. When she did start to tear up moments later, House stepped over and ripped the phone out of her hand. He couldn't stand Brendan bringing her down so low. He hated it even more that she actually took it from him with no question.

Tears fell from Cuddy's eyes when House started yelling back at Brendan, dropping down to his level. His yelling caused Rachel to start crying. At this point, House would throw either the phone or the baby. Since the phone was lighter, once he was through shouting for him to leave Cuddy alone, he threw the phone against the wall, smashing it to pieces. Evidently, he wouldn't be angry enough to trash a room, but would be angry enough to throw a cell phone across the room.

Horror spread across Cuddy's face as the sound of her cell phone breaking against the wall filled her ears, as well as Rachel's crying turning into shrieking.

"You are impossible!" Cuddy yelled, roughly taking Rachel from his arms and lightly bouncing her in her own. "Get out!"

House had never seen so much hate directed towards him before. Her eyes said it all. She also had a little vein in her forehead that popped out whenever she was angry. The thing took on a life of its own right now! What he always considered a sexy feature didn't seem so sexy anymore.

Cuddy looked worried, but at the same time, was angry towards House.

"I'm not leaving you alone," House said, not feeling so secure after hearing Brendan yell the way he did. He was dangerous. If he really did hit Cuddy, followed by making a grab for Rachel, it's only a matter of time before something more severe happens to them.

Why couldn't Cuddy see it? Was she really this in love with Brendan to ignore the safety of her own child, as well as herself? Was she willing to give up everything for some guy? House never pegged her to be this weak. In fact, it was disgusting, coming right down to it. This wasn't his Cuddy anymore. A quarter of her left when she got Rachel, and the rest of her went when she found Brendan.

What in the world made Lisa Cuddy change this quickly?

"Yes, you are, House. Get out and don't come back."

House wanted to leave. He wanted to march right out of there and find Brendan. He had to be around here somewhere. Whatever he did had such a profound effect on Cuddy that she completely forgot who she was. She reverted back to an obsessed high school girl. What would it take for her to become aware of Brendan's true colors? Was it a death of someone close to her? Maybe it would be the kidnapping of Rachel. House didn't know, but he was tempted to stage something and put it in Brendan's name to wake her up.

"I'm taking you to work," he said. "And after that, you're staying with me."

Cuddy scoffed. She finally got Rachel to settle down. "I wouldn't stay with you if my life depended on it."

"What if the kid's life depended on it?"

"He won't hurt Rachel. If anything, he wants to hurt _you_! Right now, you're making it way too easy for him, House."

"And he's going to end up hurting you if you don't open your eyes! He sends you flowers at work if you fight the night before. What's he going to send you if he breaks a few bones? A ring?" He pointed to her. "You're so obsessed with him. You're letting him walk all over you!"

"It's called love," Cuddy said. "I know you've never heard of it, but I'm not going to dump Brendan because of one little argument. And for your information, he didn't hit me. He would never hit me. He loves me."

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that. And then see what happens when it turns out be not true." His voice was low. He jutted his chin to the bathroom door. "Go get ready."

Cuddy hesitated at first. She did have responsibilities. Her job came first.

She handed Rachel off to House without a word and disappeared into the bathroom to get ready.

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	10. Unyielding

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House followed behind Cuddy, driving his bike. He wouldn't let her out of his sight. If House knew Brendan as well as he thought he did, there would be a nice fat bouquet of roses either waiting for her on her desk or currently being delivered because of what happened not too long ago. Cuddy's office was starting to smell like a florist shop because of all the roses. Didn't that say something? Everyone thought it was a sweet gesture that Cuddy had someone bringing her flowers every day. No one knew the truth behind those flowers like House did. Since Cuddy had no reason to believe there was anything wrong with her relationship, her staff at the hospital had no idea of the arguments. House kept it to himself for the time being. He may have shared a word or two of it with Wilson, but that was it. He tried to use his ducklings and Cameron to talk her down before, but it clearly didn't get far. And to make him even more pissed off, Cuddy put on extra foundation to hide the welt on her cheek and darker lipstick to hide her split lip. So she thinks that just because they're hidden behind an extra layer of makeup, they're gone all together? He walked a step behind Cuddy, muttering something under his breath. Hearing him only made Cuddy want to walk faster. Him following her around angered her. Now he was probably going to follow her right into her office.

Sure enough, he does.

"Okay, I'm safe within the walls of my sphere of influence; you can stop stalking me now," she said, peeling off her coat and hanging it up. "I don't even know why you're doing it in the first place."

"You know exactly why. After what I heard this morning alone should suggest me taking out the sorry excuse for—" He stopped dead when she started laughing. "Why are you laughing?" he asked, frowning a bit. It was nice to finally see her laugh again, but was afraid he wouldn't like the circumstances.

"This isn't about Brendan at all! It's about you." Cuddy pointed to him. "You think that just because you finally stop being an ass and decide to show you care enough for another human being that I'll pursue you instead of him."

"Yeah, Cuddy, you've got me all figured out, because I don't have anything better to do with my time. Do you actually think I LIKE going to your place every night just to be sure that asshole isn't beating on you or the kid? Do you think I ENJOY watching you come in here day after day with new markings on your face and then hear you _deny_ that they're from him?!"

"No one said you had to check up on me, House!" she yelled. "I'm a grown woman; I can make my own decisions!"

"Apparently not! What's it going to take for you to open your eyes? Huh? The kid missing? Your every breath being pummeled out of you like there's no tomorrow? Are you really that desperate and pathetic that you're letting him run your life?"

Cuddy's eyes were widened with a mixture of horror and sadness. She was bound to shed tears any second.

"Get out…" she said in a surprisingly low voice, considering what she felt inside for House was anything but calm and collective. She felt the urge to shove him out the door herself. He was going too far this time.

House didn't move. Surprise, surprise. "And then I'm guessing…in about two seconds, a very lovely bouquet of flowers will be coming through your door. Roses, specifically. Don't you find it weird that he brings you flowers only after you two fight?" House hummed dramatically. "Cause I sure do."

He wasn't being sarcastic; House actually had anger in his tone when he spoke.

Cuddy looked away as a tear fell from her eye. House poked his head up. Was it a tear of guilt? Sadness? Awareness? Was he finally getting through to her?

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, House," she said, voice almost cracking. "You drove away the only woman who could ever love you. You're blind to love. What you're feeling for Brendan is called jealousy. You're pissed because he got to play with the toy that is supposedly reserved for only you. I'm not your toy, House! I'm not going to be played with and then thrown back in the closet when you don't want me anymore."

An uncomfortable silence passed through the room. She stared heavily at him, waiting for a smartass remark. House looked around, only moving his eyes, followed by a sigh.

"I think we're getting off track here with that metaphor. I never said I wanted you."

Cuddy chuckled but no humor came from it. "Right, so are you following me around because you're bored, or because you like vicarious third party cheap thrills? I don't see any other reason for you to be poking your nose where it doesn't belong."

House sighed and briefly nibbled on his lower lip. "You make me sad."

"Get out," Cuddy tried again, but this time, much quieter. "And stop following me. I do not want, nor need, your help. I love Brendan. He treats me good. You can't just come in the middle of a conversation and assume you know everything."

"He was screaming, you were screaming, and the kid was screaming…what more do I need to know? You were _fighting_."

"So what?!" Cuddy shouted, throwing her arms out. "All couples fight! You should know. The first time you had sex with Stacy, you two almost bit one another's heads off over what time the UPS truck came by that afternoon."

House shrugged. "We always had the best sex when we were angry. Can I go now, or do you want to hear about the fight we had in the shower after I told her six year old niece there's no such thing as Santa Clause?"

"Go," Cuddy simply said.

House still didn't move. "You sure now?"

"Positive. Avoid me for the rest of the day, please. I don't care what you do; just don't make me a part of it."

House's eyes lit up like a million dollars. "That's the coolest request I've ever gotten. Thanks, boss."

"Within reason!" she shouted after him before the doors closed.

Cuddy sighed heavily. She wheeled Rachel over to her desk in her stroller and sat down. When she looked up, she saw House limping back in. She groaned as the double doors opened together and House's head poked in.

"By the way…the delivery boy just pulled up with a vase of roses. I wonder who those could be for? See ya."

House was right. They were for Cuddy. It wasn't a complete shocker. His blood boiled. He never had to fake sarcasm before. It was harder than he thought. In Cuddy's office, he wanted to scream at her until he was blue in the face, but that would probably do him no good. He needed to be witty, but rational. He needed to be himself. He was getting through to her. Now, it was time for part two.

He headed to the ER.

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House pushed aside a curtain with his cane to reveal Cameron stitching up an extremely long gash on a patient's arm. His brows rose.

"Yeow, that's gotta hurt."

"That was closed for a reason, House," Cameron said.

House looked over his shoulder. "Hey, you!" he called to a nurse at the station and waved his cane. "Get over here and finish up this patient. Dr. Cameron is taking a break with me."

"I don't do breaks," Cameron said, having no intentions of stopping. "What do you want?"

House stared at her dumbly. "Well, if you come with me, I could tell you."

"If this is about Cuddy again, I already told you she won't listen to me. Have Thirteen to do it." Cameron wasn't even making eye contact anymore.

"It's not about Cuddy." House sighed dramatically. "Okay, you kicked it out of me…I saw Chase in the supply closet with that sexy raven-haired night nurse that always eyes him AFTER I saw him with Thirteen the previous night. I wanted to be discreet about it though."

Cameron rolled her eyes and stepped aside, letting the other nurse take over. She ripped her gloves off.

"What do you really want?" she asked, tossing them in the nearest rubbish bin.

"To see you naked on a gold commemorative plate. Oh! You mean why I came down here," he said, playing it dumb.

"Yes, House, why did you pull me away from my patient?"

They stepped out into the not so busy hallway.

"I want you to talk to Cuddy," he said, voice falling somewhat serious.

Cameron had a feeling that's what it was going to be about. She sighed and pouted a bit. "House!" she whined.

"She'll listen to you."

"She hasn't before. Actually, if I remember right, she suspended me for saying something about Brendan in the first place. Sorry, but I like my job."

"Are you really that afraid of Cuddy? Come on. In a chick fight, you'd easily win."

"And lose my job afterward. If you're so concerned, go talk to her yourself."

"Don't you think I've tried? Hell, I've spent every waking minute spying at each window of her house. Next thing you know I'll have to start sketching in "Greg was here, 2009" on every windowpane."

Cameron chuckled. "If you spend so much time there, you might not have to. I'm going back to work."

"He's hitting her," House blurted out.

That caused Cameron to freeze. Her face fell completely serious. "H-He…Are you serious? Did you see it?" Now she was very interested.

"No, but I saw the gash on her cheek and the split lip. I was there this morning when Brendan was yelling in her face and trying to grab the kid from her arms."

"House, this isn't funny. If you're making this up—"

"Why would I make this up?" he asked, getting defensive. "I'm obviously coming to you as my last resort for a reason."

Cameron sighed and folded her hands across her chest with the gentle shake of her head. "Lisa is nothing more than my boss. I have no right to interfere in her life. When she starts coming to me to ask for my advice, I'll get involved then. Sorry, House."

Cameron slipped back into the ER to finish up with her patient. She had six more patients following and the entire time, she couldn't get her mind off Cuddy. What if House was right? What if Brendan really did start hitting her? That should be Cuddy's signal to kick his ass out the door, right? Judging by the way Cuddy jumped the gun and suspended her a couple weeks ago just for telling Chase about him, she loves this guy and would brush aside any form of physical abuse.

The more Cameron thought about it, the more it bothered her. After the end of her sixth patient, she needed Cuddy's signatures on the charts and a write-off to prescribe an extra dosage of an antiprotozoal to a patient. She would see for herself just how accurate House was with her relationship with Brendan.

It really wasn't her business to poke around in Cuddy's life. She barely knew the woman! However, they did have some connection that formed when she asked her to take over her duties as administrator. Since then, they would be occasionally on a first name basis. So maybe that's all that was needed to put in her two-sense. Cuddy could get very emotional. That was already seen when she was going through her bonding issues with Rachel. When she's emotional, her guard is down, and when her guard is down, creeps like Brendan come in. Now that he got in, and her guard is back up again, he can't come out. Cameron had a feeling that if House was right, Cuddy was in for it. She's a strong-willed woman, but she did have her weaknesses. Love is one of them.

Cameron entered Cuddy's office carefully. Perhaps too carefully, for when she opened the door, she startled Cuddy.

"I'm sorry," Cameron said innocently, but at the same time, studying Cuddy's face to see if she saw what House saw. She got closer.

"No, no, it's fine, I'm just wrapped up in…work." She kept her eyes off Cameron and solely focused on the documents. She didn't want to make eye contact.

Cuddy scratched her signature on each of the six documents and then on the pad for antiprotozoal without even asking what it was for. She really must be distracted.

She slapped the charts at the end of her desk for Cameron to take, not looking up at her once. Cameron didn't even take the charts. She was too busy reading Cuddy.

"Is there anything else, Dr. Cameron?" she asked the paperwork in front of her.

"Look at me," Cameron said. Simple request, right?

"Why?"

"Has Brendan been hitting you?"

"No!" she yelled quickly. Perhaps too quickly. Nonetheless, she still didn't look up. "I'm going to kill House."

"Lisa, look at me."

Cuddy quickly shot her a look. Cameron's heart sank. Not just because of Cuddy's watery eyes and tear stained cheeks, but because House was right. She did have a split lip that was starting to puffin up and the welt on her cheek was becoming visible due to the continuous flow of tears, taking the extra foundation away.

"Oh, god…" she murmured.

"He didn't hit me…He...accidentally scraped my cheek with his ring, and—"

"That's a lie," Cameron said sternly. "You wouldn't feel the need to hide the cut with makeup if it were the truth."

Cuddy narrowed her eyes. She tried to look angry, but failed miserably. "Get out. This is none of your business."

"You also wouldn't feel the need to explain how it happened," Cameron said, ignoring her. "He hit you and you're letting him get away with it."

"I said go, Dr. Cameron," she said, voice a little stronger that time.

"Fine," Cameron said, scooping up her documents. "But it's not going away. I'm here if you need me."

Cuddy didn't say anything. Cameron turned around and left.

During her small hike back to the ER, she wondered if she should let it go or go right to the source himself and give him the third degree. Should she get involved? After seeing Cuddy in a crying mess, which is something she hadn't experienced a lot in the past, she felt obligated to team up with House and kick Brendan out of her life at any cost.

No matter how heroic it may sound, Cameron felt she was intruding on Cuddy on a personal level. She never went there before, but being familiar with abusive relationships from patients and close friends, she knew how hard it was for them to face it alone, especially if they were in denial. It took a few broken bones for one of Cameron's patients to realize being with the love of her life was a mistake. Cameron hated for that to happen to Cuddy.

Cameron took a slight detour to the fourth floor diagnostics department.

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	11. Trouble In Paradise

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"House, outside," Cameron said, poking her head into his outer office.

Foreman and Kutner looked the most puzzled by Cameron's sudden interruption. Thirteen and Taub could care less, even though it was odd to see House obeying to her so easily. There wasn't even a smart comment that followed, which was unusual.

"I saw Cuddy," she said as soon as the doors were shut.

"And?" House prompted, completely focused, as if he got all the first four Powerball numbers correctly and was waiting for the fifth one to match up.

"You're right…he is hitting her and she's in denial. Thanks so much for getting me into this," she added sarcastically.

House knew she would obsess over this. There were many things he liked to do alone. This, however, he needed a partner. A woman partner.

"No problem," he said, faking a grin. "Now you can watch through her windows tonight while I get a decent night sleep."

He opened the door to step back in, but stopped when Cameron grabbed his arm.

"You're not dumping this on my lap. For whatever reason, you care enough to spy in her private life—"

"Because I suspected abuse," he said, sounding like he was defending himself.

"I'm not doing it," she said. "I'm not close with Cuddy. She wouldn't hesitate to fire me if she saw me snooping around her house."

"Fine, don't stalk her, stalk him."

Cameron's eyes went wide. "Him? As in Brendan?"

"Unless there's another _him_ we don't know about."

Cameron scoffed. "Forget it! Since you seem to be so fanatical over this relationship, why don't _you_ stalk him?"

"Don't need to. I know where he lives and everything."

"Then bomb his place. I don't know what to tell you, House, but I'm not spying, I'm not breaking and entering, and I'm not putting on a mini skirt and diverting Brendan's attention away from Lisa."

House snapped his fingers. "Damn! You figured out my idea."

"The only part I will play is being the shoulder Lisa cries on, if need be."

"Oh sure, figures you'd only want to do the emotional part. What is with you and the need to pick up the pieces?"

"Are you saying _you_ want to instead?" Cameron asked, raising a brow.

House scoffed. "Hell no. She's too whiny and sappy at the same time for me to wrap my head around it all. That doesn't mean I want some bastard walking all over her."

Cameron shook her head. "Fine, House, whatever your reason is, I don't care. Hell, you can have this secret proclivity for her and I still wouldn't care. But now that you've gotten me involved, what do you want me to do?"

House was amused. The facial gloating said it all. "Really?"

"Yes," Cameron murmured, rolling her eyes. "You knew I couldn't just let this go once I saw for myself that he hit her."

"Just keep an eye out for Brendan if he's in this hospital. You run into Cuddy more than I do."

"And then?" she prompted.

"And then I want you to put on your mini skirt and flash him your boobs."

Cameron smiled. "Don't think so." She glanced past the blinds and into the office. All eyes were on them intently, as if trying to read their mouths to figure out what they were saying. "We'll talk later."

Cameron turned around and walked away. Just before she reached the elevators, she realized her hands weren't as full as she expected them to be. She forgot two of her six charts in Cuddy's office. Go figure that one of them left behind was the one she needed for the antiprotozoal. She had to go back and get it, even though Cuddy probably didn't want to see her right now. Hopefully she was either out of her office, or left them at the nurse's station to be picked up.

Cameron didn't go back right away. She dropped her charts off and spent a good hour in the ER checking up on patients and admitting new ones. She forgot all about the charts she left in Cuddy's office until the patient that needed the extra script of antiprotozoal came back looking for it. That's when Cameron excused herself and jogged the short stretch from the ER to the clinic to get it.

She stepped off the stairs and kept up the quick pace through the lobby. Just when she reached the clinic double doors, she stepped back as someone stepped through. It was Brendan and he was leaving the clinic area, which means he was with Cuddy just now.

"Hello, Dr. Cameron," he said pleasantly, flashing her his gorgeous smile and nodding his head at her politely.

He looked positively glowing, causing Cameron to be not so worried.

"Hi," she said back, smiling as well. "Did…you just come from Dr. Cuddy's office?"

"No, Lisa wasn't there, so I just left a note for her at the nurse's station. I have to…I have an engagement I have to get to and this was on the way. I thought I'd surprise her, but you can't do that if she's not there," he laughed with the shrug of his shoulders.

Cameron smiled to be polite. "No, I guess you can't."

The closer Cameron got to stepping into the clinic, the more uncomfortable Brendan looked. He finally said his goodbyes and turned to leave.

What was that all about? Something didn't seem right. Cameron didn't wait for him to leave before disappearing into the clinic and almost forgot about him completely.

"Is Dr. Cuddy in her office?" Cameron asked Nurse Brenda.

"Yes, but she asked not to be disturbed." Cameron's two files were slapped up onto the counter. "She said you would be back to look for these."

Cameron turned towards Cuddy's office. Her shades were drawn. That was odd. What was even odder was Brendan saying she wasn't in her office when she was.

"Was she in there the whole time?"

Brenda frowned. "Yeah, I guess. Her boyfriend just came out of there."

"How long was he in there?"

Just then, the phone near Brenda rang. "I don't know, fifteen minutes or so," she said and then picked up the phone, ignoring Cameron completely.

Cameron turned her head just in time to see Brendan staring back at her from behind the closed clinic doors. There was something penetrating about his stare that made her feel very uneasy. It was a stare that said, 'if you go in there, you suffer the consequences.'

Cameron went in anyway. Something didn't feel right. She knocked at the inside door.

"Lisa? It's Cameron, I—"

"Your charts are with Nurse Brenda," she said, forcing herself to sound like everything was okay. There was a hint in her tone that told Cameron something was bothering her. Cuddy wasn't peppy earlier, but she didn't sound this downhearted either.

"Can I come in?"

Cuddy didn't answer right away. Cameron reached for the door handle and was about to push the door open when she spoke, "I'm very busy, Dr. Cameron."

Cuddy seemed more aloof than normal. Why did Brendan say? Did they fight? If they did fight, others would hear them. So if they didn't fight, what did they talk about? Curiosity and worry caused Cameron to push the doors open and step in. Cuddy was at her desk. She looked up with a gasp, as if she didn't expect someone to walk through the door…or as if she _did_ expect someone to walk through the door.

She jumped up from her seat so fast that she nearly knocked it over.

"Did you not hear me?" she asked, upset that Cameron came in.

Cuddy was jumpy. That wasn't a good sign.

"What the hell did he want?" Cameron asked, stepping beside herself.

Cuddy was also fidgety. She started organizing charts on her desk quickly, as if trying to evade the subject.

"Who?" she asked.

"You know who," Cameron said, stepping forth. She didn't mean for her tone to sound so forceful, but it was.

Cuddy refused to stop shuffling around. Cameron reached out and grabbed her by the wrist to stop her. However, when Cuddy gasped suddenly and gave a small cry of pain, Cameron took her hand back.

Cameron frowned. Cuddy cradled her hand, which was now trembling, with her other one.

"Please leave," she said weakly, knowing Cameron would never go until she heard an explanation of what just happened.

"You know I'm not going anywhere. Don't even get me to try. He grabbed you, didn't he?"

Cuddy tried to look angry, but failed miserably. "Dr. Cameron, I'd thank you if you—"

"Why are the blinds shut?" Cameron's eyes and firm grasp were unyielding. At the same time, she felt an anger towards Brendan than she didn't feel before.

Cuddy's lower lip trembled, almost unnoticeably. A fresh batch of tears gathered in her eyes. She was being cornered and was being forced to spill it, regardless if she wanted to or not.

"It's…it's really nothing," Cuddy said. "He came in and talked with me…"

"…And?" Cameron prompted.

Cuddy took in a deep breath. "And then he asked to borrow money. I never have cash on me. He just flipped out and grabbed me by the wrists, accusing me of lying. I offered to give him my ATM card, but he just shouted numerous hurtful things at me and took off."

Cuddy tried to remain strong in front of Cameron. She didn't know her well enough to become emotional in front of her. However, when her head dropped and the tears came, she had no control over her actions. Brendan had said one too many to her and it was starting to break her shell. With each ruthless banter and him pounding it in her face that she wasn't worth a single rose he gave her, a new crack would appear. There couldn't be too many more places for cracks until her shell breaks completely and the Lisa Cuddy as the world knows her is no more. She had to be pulled back before it got too far.

"Are you happy you know everything now? Does that make you more of a person knowing you have the 411 on my life?"

"Does he hit you?" Cameron already asked that question before, but didn't get the right answer. She wanted Cuddy to admit it and stop defending him. If she admits it, there was still hope for her.

Instead of answering, Cuddy turned her head and cried, completely losing it. Her guard was officially down. Cameron's heart went out to her. She stepped around to the back of the desk and swept up Cuddy into her arms without giving it a single thought. Cuddy hugged her back, but lightly, and never ceased her quiet sobbing.

"I'm sorry," Cameron said, knowing what the answer was. Cuddy didn't have to say it.

"I don't know what I did wrong," Cuddy said, followed by a sniffle.

Cameron hated how Cuddy blamed herself for Brendan's actions. It made her want to slap the smile right off his face. When he left the clinic, he was grinning like he knew he was ahead. He was so proud of himself for having the upper hand. Cameron could see that merely just by seeing him and hearing the tone of his voice. He was gloating.

"Lisa, it's not your fault." Cameron drew back just far enough to look into her eyes. "You need to stop blaming yourself for his actions. He's not who you met in the letters. In writing, all the edges are smooth and you hear what people want you to hear. Brendan isn't who he made himself out to be. You fell in love with someone that doesn't exist. If you don't leave him now, you'll never be able to."

Cuddy shook her head gently. "I don't want to leave him. I don't care that he asks for money, or if he's not as perfect. I'm almost forty-five and my love life is nonexistent."

"That doesn't mean you have to be stuck with someone who hits you!" Cameron said strongly, wondering what happened to the real Lisa Cuddy. Was she really this starved for love? If so, she masked it well all these years.

Cuddy shook her head and looked brave all of a sudden. "It's not really any of your concern, Dr. Cameron. And when you leave my office, you can tell House that it's none of his either and to leave me alone."

A frown came to Cameron's face. "Wait, you think I'm in here on House's behalf?"

"Thought had crossed my mind." Cuddy sat in her chair and took Rachel into her arms to stop her from fussing. "You can also tell him that I wouldn't have him watching over me, even if Brendan suddenly became an axe murderer."

Cameron's frown remained. Was this the same person she was hugging a minute ago? Cuddy's emotions were mixed up. Brendan was doing more harm than good to her. It hurt Cameron just to watch. She had never been close to Cuddy, except for recently, but never did she wish this sort of life for her. It's as if she had some emotional disorders or something and couldn't see that this sort of attention was wrong. At least she was getting some sort of attention and someone telling her how beautiful she is day after day. Maybe that's what Cuddy needed, even if the way she was getting them was unhealthy.

Cameron bit her bottom lip. Cuddy didn't even bother to look up at her again. She talked baby talk to Rachel and reached for a bottle on her desk. Cameron had to get out of there before she started tearing up.

She nodded for no particular reason and just left. House was waiting outside the doors when she stepped out, which was no surprise. When he said he was keeping an extra close eye out on Cuddy, he wasn't kidding.

"How is she?" he asked, following Cameron through the clinic and back to the elevators. That didn't surprise her. What surprised her was how deep into this House was. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't care. The attachment he had with Cuddy was quickly starting to become visible and he did nothing to hide or suppress it.

"Not good," Cameron said with a sigh. "It's like, one minute, she was crying and knowing it was wrong, and the next, she acted like everything was okay. He's brainwashing her. Did you see him in the lobby?" Cameron looked up to him just as his eyes widened.

"He was here?"

He was looking at me through the lobby doors, watching me go into Cuddy's office. You must've just missed him."

"Son of a bitch," House whispered, resisting the urge to throw his fist into the elevator doors before they opened to let them in.

"He didn't hit her here, House. He's not that stupid."

House spoke as soon as they were on the elevator. "No, it's not that. He saw you go in right after he left, Cameron. You're a liability."

"Not necessarily. How would he know if Cuddy told me what happened? As far as he's concerned, he's not doing anything wrong and Cuddy's a brick wall. She wouldn't say anything if she's in denial."

"Let's just assume he knows Cuddy said everything to you. In that case, he'll be coming after you to shut you up if anything goes wrong."

Cameron felt a twinge of fear stab at her for a quick second.

"He won't want witnesses."

Cameron shook her head solemnly. "What are we going to do?"

House looked at his watch. "It's almost four. Cuddy leaves at five. If I have to, I'll park my ass on the bench outside the door to be sure she doesn't skip out early. You're not doing anything more. I'm not giving him another reason to come after you."

Cameron frowned slightly. Was he actually caring about her? That was new. "Thanks, House."

He shook his head and started walking off the elevator as the doors opened. "Don't thank me. I just don't have enough time in my schedule to be stalking you, too."

Cameron rolled her eyes with a small smile and walked her separate way.

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	12. For All The Wrong Reasons

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Cuddy slammed her phone back onto the cradle and let out a shaky, emotional sigh. She was slowly losing it. She felt the pressures building up inside her, but the reason isn't what one might think. It was because Brendan wasn't answering his phone and she was growing more and more worried. She didn't know what she did wrong. She offered to give him her card so he could take out the money, so why did he flip out?! And now his cell phone just rang and rang.

Cuddy fiercely brushed a tear away from her face and stood up. She could brood about this on the way home. Hopefully he was there waiting for her, or planned to be there later. They needed to talk. She had to find out what she was doing wrong. The love she felt for him couldn't allow her to back down. She wouldn't. She needed him and wanted to make it work.

Voices came to her head. They were the voices of House and Cameron individually. She had Cameron on one side, telling her that he's not who he seems and then she had House on the other side, telling her it's a mistake. That wasn't true! Brendan was so wonderfully perfect. He had the perfect smile, touch, sense of humor, and was terrific in bed. Cuddy knew if she could just talk to him and get through to him, she could be happy again.

Thinking he might be at home waiting for her, she gathered her things and left her office a half hour ahead of schedule. She was so distracted that she didn't hear Nurse Brenda, or anyone else saying goodbye to her. She pushed Rachel out in her stroller and didn't look back. With such luck, she could also ditch House.

Wishful thinking. With a deep, angry sigh and the roll of her eyes, she spotted him on the bench right near the lobby exit. He's been there for some time, because he was already bored and twirling his cane in between his fingers for entertainment.

"Go away," she said, walking past him.

He stood up and followed her at her heels. "I told you I'm not leaving you alone until you open your eyes."

"My eyes are open, thank you," she murmured, walking faster as a vain attempt to ditch him, although it was useless at this point.

"Not wide enough, evidently."

"I'm going home, and if you follow me, you're fired." She never bothered to look back. She knew he was still on her tail.

"Yeah, I've heard that before."

Cuddy's reserved parking spot was one of the very first ones, so she didn't have that far to walk. Still not looking at House, she tossed her things into the car and put Rachel into her baby seat in a hurry, anxious to get away from him.

"What the hell are you moving so fast for?" he asked. "Lover boy meeting you at home with another dozen roses and maybe a reservation to a spa on the roof somewhere with champaign and oysters?"

She wouldn't stop shuffling about and that upset House. He grasped her by the arm to spin her around to face him, but as he did, Cuddy cowered severely and shot backwards, slamming up against her car, shielding her face with a small, wounded cry, as if she was about to be hit.

House let her go quickly after seeing the sudden fear in her eyes. He had never seen this before and it shocked the hell out of him. "Cuddy…I would never hit you. What—"

"Leave me alone," she said, hands starting to tremble again. Her voice also somewhat trembled. "And don't follow me. I mean it, House."

He moved up to her so that there was no room in between them. He practically pinned her up against the car. She looked up to him with scared, watery eyes.

"I'm not going to let you give up on yourself. There are hundreds, thousands of decent men out there that are looking for someone like you. Why do you have to resort to someone who hits you?" he asked, gently running the pads of his fingers against the visible welt on her cheek.

"He doesn't hit me," Cuddy said, but it came out mumbled, as if she was tired of telling that lie.

"You're lying," he said.

He was being so gentle that Cuddy couldn't help but cry. He caught the first couple of tears on his finger and brushed them away.

"Let me go." The sound of her voice made that supposedly powerful statement seem pathetic. The tears didn't help do justice either. It's almost as if she wasn't sure that she actually wanted House to leave her alone.

His hand cupped her cheek. He felt her gently lean into his touch, but not too much.

"I'm not giving up on you," he murmured. "I never have."

"House…" she breathed, although it merely sounded like just air passing through her lips.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth lightly. Even though it was gentle, Cuddy felt electrical surges pass through her body that only came about when House kissed her.

Her eyes fluttered shut as he deepened the kiss. If Cuddy didn't hold onto him, her knees would've given out beneath her. House always managed to take her mind off everything, including something like Brendan.

"I would never hurt you," he breathed so close to her ear.

"I know…" she whispered back.

"Then why won't you let me go with you?"

"House, please don't do this to me. Don't complicate things further between us."

He gave her a bit of space when he stepped back. "So you think that going back to that asshole and have him beat on you is easier than somewhat of a normal relationship with me?"

"The only reason you care is because Brendan is stealing your thunder! You don't want me; you're just using now as the perfect time to get me away from him. Once you've done that, we'll go on acting the same towards each other as we always have. Your ruthless banter and checking out my ass while I'm threatening to fire you every five seconds."

House hummed. "Wow, Cameron was right. You do go from emotional and weepy to becoming in denial and mean. I don't think that's healthy for you or for the kid."

"And you go from being a jerk to being an ass. Not much of a transition there. Don't follow me."

Cuddy slipped into her car and drove off without looking back. House just stood there watching, even after she was out of sight. He could still feel the remains of the kiss on his lips. Cuddy was there, if only just for a second. Now he had to make that second become a lifetime.

Question was—how would he do that? Up for the challenge, which was fueled by his love for Cuddy, he wouldn't give up so easily.

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Cuddy got home to find Brendan's car in her driveway. She identified it clearly, even though she was seeing through blurred eyes. How was she going to explain her condition to him without him getting upset?

Deciding to hide her tears, Cuddy pulled into her driveway and quickly dried them. She watched herself in the mirror for a moment. Her heart sank. House was right—she did look different. And it wasn't a good kind of different either. Her eyes were always puffy, it was getting harder to hide the welt and the split lip, and her beautiful blue eyes were a sickly grey, not vibrant blue, like they normally are.

She hated the way she looked. She hated the way she acted at the hospital while feeling so insecure about herself and her actions. She hated the way House only kissed her just to pull her away from Brendan.

And yet…there it was again—the unique feeling that settled in her heart whenever she thought of House. He may be the world's biggest jerk and only after Cuddy so she'll break it off with Brendan, but whatever his motives were, there was good reasoning behind them, whether they were personal or defined.

Cuddy knew what life with House would be like. He would drive her crazy on a first date, let alone the rest of their lives together. He couldn't be mature about anything. He was a big child who wouldn't stop fussing until he got what he wanted.

Cuddy would've went further, but her mind completely stopped thinking about House when her car door opened from the outside. She gasped and turned her head quickly to the door, not expecting it to open.

"Deep in thought?" Brendan asked as pleasantly as the day she met him.

Cuddy didn't know what to say. Usually, she would try to cover up her actions by defending herself to him and say it was nothing. She didn't do that. Instead, she just looked at him.

"I asked you a question," he said, smiling broadly, offering his hand to help her out of the car. "You okay, hon?"

Cuddy took his hand, even though she was capable of getting out of the car on her own. Her eyes met his. They were filled with the same amount of love as they were on their first date. He had to have done that on purpose, because whenever they fought and he came back with this twinkle in his eye, Cuddy's mind erased what happened earlier and fell in love with him all over again.

It didn't do it this time. She still remembered the incident in her office with Brendan and then House's kiss before she left the hospital.

Even though Cuddy loved Brendan and she would always love him, it was for all the wrong reasons. She was so desperate to find love that her mind took total control and literally forced her to fall for him, despite her better judgment telling her otherwise.

Cuddy tensed when he brushed his fingers gently across her cheek. Every time he did this, he would end up hitting her afterwards, turning into this monster for no reason. Her lower lip trembled. She prayed he didn't see it.

"I'm sorry about today, baby," he whispered, inching his lips closer to hers. "It'll never happen again."

"Yes it will," Cuddy breathed just as his lips touched hers.

She didn't even realize she said that aloud until Brendan backed his head up. A breath of worry escaped Cuddy's lips.

"Are you arguing with me, Lisa?" he asked, but calmly.

Cuddy wanted to shake her head no. In fact, a part of her begged to do so. Except this time, her heart allowed her to tell the truth. Even if House only kissed her to see reality, reality seemed better being single again instead of worrying whether or not she would be hit after dinner because her mashed potatoes had clumps in them instead of being smooth. That was not a life for her.

Her mouth hung open. She wanted to tell him it was over. She wanted to tell him that she loved House and even though he wouldn't provide her the life she was after, at least he wouldn't hit her.

"You want to break up with me?" he asked, sounding sure of himself.

Cuddy swallowed the lump in her throat.

"House told you to say that, didn't he?" he asked, sounding angry again. "Look at you; you can't even attempt to talk without crying. Why would I be so in love with someone so emotional like you?"

"I'm sorry," Cuddy choked out.

Brendan's eyes darkened over completely. His face fell serious. Cuddy knew what was coming. This wasn't the first time an unexplainable rage took over his body.

"You're sorry?!" he yelled, breath pounding her face as he grasped her hard by her upper arms, shoving her back against the car. "I gave you everything, Lisa! And now you're leaving me for _House_?!"

Cuddy never wished for House as much as she did now. Brendan wouldn't stop at the arms; he would go for her neck again. Whenever House was mentioned, he would threaten to choke her until she confessed to something.

"What can he give you that I haven't already done, huh?! What can a _cripple_ do for you?!"

He shoved her backwards so hard that the back of her head hit the side of her car.

Just then, he rose his hand and Cuddy cowered backwards so fast that her entire body slammed into her car. Upon instinct, she covered her face.

But nothing happened. Instead of seeing the usual stars from being slapped upside the head, she saw only the backs of her eyelids.

"No," he said. "I'm not going to hit you."

She opened her eyes to look back at him.

"I'm going to go home and give you some time to come to your senses. I'll be back later and you better be alone."

Roughly, he pulled her to him, smashing their lips together. After that, he got into his car and left.

Cuddy sank to her knees and sobbed into her hands as she heard him speed away loudly down the street. When did she become so weak? When did she let some guy take over her life and what she believes in? Cuddy felt all the strength zap straight out of her system. All she wanted to do was curl up on the ground and fade away.

She didn't even hear House's motorcycle come up the road until it was right in her driveway. She took her hands away from her face and looked over to see the familiar bike parked where Brendan's car was and House dismounting. As happy as she was to see him, she wished it was under better circumstances.

House limped over to her as quickly as he could. She watched him the whole time. He helped her to her feet. She was the first to throw her arms around him, as if this were anyone but House. She didn't care who it was right now, as long as the body was warm and inviting.

"Did he hit you again?" House asked with a certain growl in his throat.

Cuddy was able to truthfully shake her head no.

House was raging inside. Even though his hand was smoothing her hair and allowing her face to fit itself in the crook of his neck, House was in fury. Cuddy has shed so many tears over the past few weeks because of this guy. House had felt the anger in the past to punch someone out. That wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, but the fact that he wanted to destroy Brendan for making Cuddy cry was new for him. For one, he said he never wanted Cuddy, and two, he never had a reason to want to destroy anything. Sure, he got into a couple good fights in his life, but never did he feel like this. Now he was willing to do so for her, going back on everything he thought and felt about her. All this was determined just by merely looking into her watery eyes. They screamed at him to help her, even if she didn't say it aloud.

"Where did he go?" House asked.

"Home," Cuddy said. "He took off down the street."

House brought his brows closer together. "Unless he has two homes, Cuddy, he lives right across the street from you."

Cuddy's eyes grew wider. She had no idea…and her face showed it.

"Are you sure?" she asked, a sudden fear enveloping her.

"I saw him pull in one time. You didn't know where he lived?"

Cuddy shook her head. "He never wanted to go there. He said he just moved in and his place was a mess."

Somehow, House knew there was a different reason behind that, especially if he said he was going home and he went down the street instead of across the street.

"Come with me," he said, taking her hand.

Cuddy didn't move. Her feet were nailed to the pavement. He looked back at her questionably.

"I can't, House." She was scared all over again.

"Get the kid and let's go."

Cuddy had no idea why he wanted to go over there. What would it prove? Did he want to start something? Brendan wasn't even there.

Cuddy did as told and got Rachel out of the car. She was asleep, so it was easy to take her with them.

"He likes you a little more than he should and I'm going to find out why. Is he trying to blackmail you or getting you to do something financially, other than asking for money earlier today?"

Cuddy truthfully shook her head. "No. Today was the first day. Blackmail, House? You should know me better than anyone on this planet. Have I really done anything I need to be blackmailed for?"

"I'm sure that creep will dig up something."

House got to the front door belonging to the house across the street and opened it with ease. It was almost creepy, as if Brendan was expecting them. The interior of the home was dark. House had to find a light switch. When he did, and the room was completely lit up, Cuddy's mouth dropped to the cold wooden floor beneath her. If she didn't have a firm hold on Rachel, the poor baby would've fallen out of her arms.

There, before her on the wall, were hundreds of pictures of her and Rachel in just about every activity. Cuddy stepped forward shakily, tears coming to her eyes. House found it hard to keep in one spot.

"That son of a bitch," House mumbled and then pointed to a bunch of camera equipment in the corner of the room and a telescope in front of the bay window with the pulled down velvet curtains.

If this place didn't give him an eerie feeling before, it did now. Brendan had plans for Cuddy and it appeared that the house he was living in was a prop to stage his attacks. There was no boxes in here, other than camera equipment and pictures, so he wasn't moving in any time soon. House determined this when he disappeared into the other room while Cuddy stood in the same spot, gawking at all her pictures on the wall.

"How much do you want to make a bet that there's a clichéd 'dungeon' in the basement?" he said, poking his head back in.

Cuddy felt a funny taste form in her mouth as she shook her head. "I don't want to know, House," she breathed, feeling helpless. "I can't think about it right now."

House limped quickly over to the window and peeked out when he heard a car drive up the lot.

"You better think of something because he just pulled in," he said, glancing back at her.

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	13. Escape?

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Escape would be easy if Rachel wasn't in her arms. Her panicking didn't help much either. If Brendan didn't hit her before, he'd murder her once he found out she's been in his home and saw the pictures!

House limped hurriedly back over to her. "There has to be a back door to this place to get you out."

As if Rachel could sense fear, she started to cry. That's when Cuddy's entire body went numb with fear. She looked up to House helplessly. Why did they even come in there in the first place?

House pulled her wrist more urgently now that Rachel started crying. Cuddy complied. Since the place was mostly empty, it was easy to maneuver.

Cuddy heard the front door open so clearly, it's as if she were right beside it. If Brendan didn't hear Rachel before, he would certainly hear her now. She wasn't crying loudly, but it was loud enough to be heard echoing through an empty house. Cuddy dropped her hand over Rachel's mouth in a last ditch effort to muffle her cries. She didn't do it hard, but it was enough for Rachel to panic at the foreign feeling and become more scared.

House found the back door and not a moment too soon. There could still be a chance that Brendan didn't hear them if he was too distracted. Cuddy kept tossing her head over her shoulder back at the doorway to the kitchen, fully expecting him to be coming through at any time.

"House, hurry," she said, heart beating faster every time.

"Damn door is stuck!" he said, vainly trying to yank the door open by pulling on the doorknob.

Cuddy was too distracted by looking over her shoulder to notice that House was in trouble, other than the door being stuck. The reason Brendan wasn't coming into the kitchen through the doorway is because he wasn't out there anymore. He heard Rachel cry and knew he had visitors—visitors that would escape through a backdoor. How cliché. At least they didn't try to run up the stairs.

Cuddy's scream filled the whole house when the door was kicked in from the outside, sending House to the ground. The door must've hit his bad leg, because the first thing he did was reach up to grasp it painfully.

"House!" Cuddy cried, tears building up in her eyes.

Rachel added to the fear in the room with crying of her own.

"I was hoping you wouldn't ever have to come here, Lisa," he said, stepping forward and ignoring House for now.

Cuddy's eyes shifted from House to Brendan, silently praying that House would be okay.

"So what…you think you could just continue on with me without ever telling me about the pictures and the equipment?" she asked, still feeling somewhat afraid of him as he walked slowly towards her, but a part of her also still felt the love she had for him for the past few weeks.

"I was impressed by you, Lisa. You were the only one I've ever really fallen in love with."

Cuddy's eyes widened. What did he mean by that? "There were others you did this to?" she asked breathlessly, stepping backwards to keep a gap in between them.

He nodded after a small pause. He should be used to coming clean by now. With every other woman that made him confess to previous killings, he was able to flaunt himself and his skills easily, but with Cuddy, it was so hard. He still had every intention of one day bringing her down like the rest of them, but because he felt the way he did for her, it was difficult.

"I take it you didn't see the box of pictures? You probably would've if I didn't come right back. I didn't lie when I told you I wanted to be a photojournalist and that taking pictures was what I did best. I never lied to you."

"Except for when you didn't tell me you went around killing people!" Cuddy cried as everything painfully sank into her, shooting straight to her heart, making it weigh a ton. "And here you have the nerve to talk to me so casually like you do to all your victims before you kill them! Is it a sick way to repent for your sins?"

Brendan shrugged. "No. And I don't feel bad about it either. I've come to you with every intention of making you my next victim, but I couldn't. Something was holding me back."

"Oh well thanks for making an exception," she said, holding Rachel closer to her. If she wasn't in her arms right now, it would be a lot easier to get away from Brendan.

"So I didn't change my mind, I've changed my MO," he informed her with a smirk, taking another step towards her. "Since I don't want to inflict hurt on you directly, I've decided to hurt those you care about."

He said that so simply with so much ease that it made Cuddy sick to her stomach. Not only did it feel like someone was stepping on her heart, but the same feelings came to her stomach after he said that.

Brendan didn't sound angry either. He talked to her as if this were a normal, everyday conversation. She grew even more worried when his eyes dropped to Rachel, eyeing her like a boy in his favorite toy store.

"Fuck you if you think you're touching the kid," House said, finally able to get to his feet.

Cuddy felt a wave of relief flow through her body, but how long would it last? Would House be able to hold his ground? Judging by the anger splashed on his face, he was willing to fight for her to the death. She had never seen him like this before. She only hoped it would be enough. Brendan looked like the type to fight dirty.

"Almost forgot you were there," Brendan said, temporarily forgetting about Cuddy and turning to face House.

"Cuddy, take Rachel and go," he said, using her name for the first time.

Cuddy opened her mouth to speak, but Brendan stopped her before she could start to form words. "No, I can't allow that," he said, using a taunting tone. "I have to see the look on Lisa's face when I drive yours into the linoleum."

"Okay, anyone with that amount of cockiness has either been hanging around with me for too long, or watching too many reruns of _Yu Yu Hakusho_. Since it's not door number one, I can only assume you're also just another dumb anime fan who thinks if you scream loud enough into the sky, you'll reach _Super Saiyan _level three."

"Is there a point to this or do you just want to get this over with quickly?"

"You're all talk and no fight. I can only assume you're better with keeping women locked up and begging for their lives than fighting."

"Looks like you're doing all the talking, hotshot," Brendan countered. "You're just pissed that Lisa came to me instead of you."

"She came to you because I couldn't give her the answer she wanted fast enough, you sick fuck."

Brendan smiled. "Really? Well, why don't we ask her?" He turned his head to find Cuddy up against a countertop, rocking Rachel in her arms, but at the same time, weeping her eyes out.

"Leave her out of this," House spat.

"Why? You afraid of the answer?"

While they continued to bicker, Cuddy knew she would have to give her input eventually. Coming right down to it, it sounded like the two were fighting over 'my dick is bigger than yours' and it was getting ridiculous! Even Rachel knew the fear had disappeared, because even she was starting to smile and coo like there wasn't a problem in the world.

Cuddy wondered if she should just come out and say how she felt. Brendan, even though he was being childish when it came to a one on one confrontation, it didn't erase the fact that he killed women for sport, and minutes away from killing either House or her baby without feeling remorse of any kind. Maybe being calm is his way of distracting opponents because even though he had so much rage in him, he's able to suppress it to charm the pants off his victims, appearing to be a completely different person. It's like he has two different personalities.

Nonetheless, him being naïve might be a trick, so she couldn't let her guard down too much. Evidently, she didn't know him as well as she thought. She couldn't forget about the position she was in either.

"I'm still the same man you fell in love with, Lisa," Brendan said. "Sometimes I just snap and do things I don't mean."

"Like kill innocent people?" Cuddy shot. "Or did you mean to do that?"

"Cuddy, just go," House said, getting a little impatient with her just standing there and continuing to talk to him.

"No, she's staying. Aren't you, Lisa? You know you still love me. You want to get through to me."

"Not anymore I don't," Cuddy whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "And the sad thing is—I would've married you if you asked me. That's how much I loved you, despite your outbursts."

Seeing Cuddy cry over him once again made House angry. He waited until Brendan was fully focused on Cuddy before expertly clipping him in the back of the head with his hand, sending him down. Tears fell from Cuddy's eyes at this bold move.

"Stop wasting tears over that asshole," House said in a demanding tone, a little harsher than expected.

"You didn't have to be so rough, House," she said, feeling the urge to dash down by him and see if he's okay.

There was a reason other than the fear of escaping that kept Cuddy there. House could see that.

"Well how else did you expect to get away? I mean, not that you want to, obviously," he said sarcastically.

House was getting impatient with her. She was lingering in the same spot for too long, especially when they were free to go. The opportunity was running out, for Brendan started to groan and stir back to reality.

House grabbed Cuddy's arms roughly and pulled her. "Snap out of it!" he said.

Cuddy gave in and left with him, looking back at Brendan up until she could no longer see him.

"I should see if he's okay," Cuddy said, voice full of worry. Her eyes showed it as well.

"Who cares?"

"I do!" she said, tugging back on her arm, but not hard enough to break the grip.

House never stopped moving. They were out the door as fast as he could drag her.

"You go back there, you'll be locked up and forgotten about, is that what you want?"

"Why do you care?! You're an even colder, heartless bastard than he is," she spat just as they reached her driveway.

House's eyes showed hurt. Cuddy stopped struggling when their eyes connected. It slipped in the heat of the moment and already her eyes were softening with regret.

"Get in the car," he said, voice still firm, appearing to have ignored that comment. "Now."

Cuddy did so, taking Rachel into the front seat with her. There was no time to put her in the baby seat. Her head was wrenched around the entire time, looking back to see if Brendan was planning to follow them.

"He threatens your life, you still love him. He kills people, and you still love him, but you won't give me the light of day," House muttered, starting Cuddy's car and speeding off so quickly that Cuddy found it difficult to stay in her seat.

"Okay, can we not talk about this, House?" Cuddy said loudly, holding up her hand to silence him.

The tension was getting to Rachel again. She started to fuss in Cuddy's arms. She was seconds away from wailing her head off and Cuddy was right there with her.

"You can't be serious about him!"

"House!" Cuddy shouted, causing Rachel to cry. "I don't want to talk about it now!"

"Well when's a better time, Cuddy? When you're six feet under?!" he shouted, matching her tone, and causing Rachel to cry harder.

"He won't hurt me!" Cuddy had to shout over Rachel's screaming.

"Not directly, but he will to those you care about!"

Tears fell from Cuddy's eyes. With Rachel crying and House yelling to prove his point, the stress was too much. Not to mention you realize your boyfriend, whom you started to love more than anything else in this world because you thought he could do no wrong, kills women for fun and you realize that you or someone you love is next on the list. But nonetheless, you still love him.

Her head started to throb. She knew she was in trouble. At that moment, she glanced to the side mirror and saw them being closely followed.

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	14. Detours

**First of all, I must apologize for the huge gap in updating. There really is no excuse for that! Second, big group hugs for those who reviewed and those who PMed me to get my butt in gear with updating! You guys brought this story back to life and I thank each and every one of you! :)**

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"That bastard," House said, driving a little faster and watching him through the rear view mirror. Brendan was on their tails.

House then glanced over to Cuddy. "Well?"

"Well what?" she asked, somewhat shocked and surprised.

"You got me into this mess, how do I get out of it?" House didn't take an angry tone with her, which was a surprise.

"You got yourself into this mess by butting into my life again," she shot back.

"So you agree it's a mess?"

She frowned at him, but not before taking a quick glance behind them. Brendan started giving them a little leeway and wasn't so close. It made her feel a little better.

"You only love this guy because you're afraid to love me."

Cuddy's frown remained. "Okay, House, you even using the word love is scary enough; don't add me in the same sentence."

"Why not?" he asked dumbly.

"Just don't, okay? Don't."

Just as she glanced back into the mirror, Brendan took a sharp turn down a side street. It was so sudden that his tired let off a screech that could be heard as clear as day from the inside of her car.

"Good, he's gone," she said, leaning back into the seat with a relieved sigh.

"For now. He's probably going to reappear somewhere else."

"Where are we going?"

"I told you, we're going to my apartment until the cops are called and that bastard is behind bars." He held up a finger to silence her as soon as she opened her mouth. "And before you say anything, don't."

"House—"

"Shut up, Cuddy."

"House—"

"You understand English?"

"I'm not going to your apartment! Drop me off at the hospital; I'll stay there for now."

House glanced at Rachel in her arms, who was quite content with sucking on her fist and having trouble keeping up with the fast moving scenery out the window.

"With the kid? Do you really think that'll work?"

"Well what else am I going to do?" she asked with much agitation in her tone. "I'm not coming with you. And you're not calling the cops on him."

House frowned. "Why the hell not?"

"For one, I don't want you to. It's not your fight to be fighting. And two, it won't do you any good. By the time they get there, he'll be long gone."

"Oh thanks a lot. Where's number three? 'I worry about your wellbeing, House. I'm afraid that if you do get involved, he'll be coming after you next,'" he said in a high pitched voice, mocking Cuddy's tone.

"No one asked you to get involved. I told you to stay out of it," Cuddy said, not impressed. "So what, now all of a sudden you decide to give me the light of day?"

"What the hell does that mean?" he asked.

Cuddy chuckled, but no humor came from it. "All these years you've been making passes at me and brushing up on your euphemisms, but never did you actually come forth and admit your feelings for me until I started going out with Brendan. You're amazing, House." Cuddy sighed and shook her head.

"Is it so wrong for me to not want to see you locked in a basement like all his previous victims, screaming for your life or being deprived of food and other life essentials?"

"That's not why you're doing it, House. Knowing you, you're worried that if something happens to me, you'll have to put up with learning how to manipulate some other Dean of Medicine that takes my place at the hospital."

"For once can you not see me as this heartless human being?"

"Sure, when you stop being one," Cuddy shot back.

The bickering went on for a good couple minutes, back and forth, until House took a turn and went the opposite way from the direction of the hospital.

"House, turn around," Cuddy said with defeat, tired of arguing with him.

"Nope," he said with a sly smile, as if he knew he has won.

Somewhere along the line of them bickering, Cuddy had started to cry. House hadn't noticed until he saw her quickly flick a tear away with the side of one of her fingers.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding bored. "Why are you crying?"

Cuddy shook her head, followed by a sniffle. "Doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," he stated harshly. He tried to sound like he cared, but it came out as if he didn't give a damn.

"House, just…If I have to go home with you, don't talk, okay? I don't want to hear your voice."

"Fine."

To her surprise, he actually stayed quiet for the next ten minutes it took for him to drive to his apartment, and even the time it took them to get from the car to the apartment. He didn't even look like he wanted to say anything. Cuddy was a little puzzled. Considering all things said and done, she needed someone to talk to. But did that someone really need to be House? She wanted someone who could understand her. Sadly to say, she really didn't know many people like that in her life. House was doing this for his own reasons, not because he cared for her. He was doing it because he hated Brendan and wanted to see him lose. At least that's what Cuddy assumed. His cover was showing he cared for her, just to get her on his side. That wasn't a bad assumption, was it? After all, House has the personality of a stump, to put it lightly. Stacy sucked out his remaining love. Now he was just a loveless bastard who's motive was always for himself, not for anyone else.

"House," she piped up, just before they entered his apartment.

"Shhh." He glanced back at her.

"House," she tried again.

"Shhhut up. No talking, remember?"

Cuddy sighed loudly. They entered his apartment and right away. The silence between them was even more uncomfortable than the talking.

However, nothing was said between them for what felt like the longest time. What passed was House limping towards the kitchen without his cane and reappearing with a beer and an oversized bag of chips while Cuddy alerted the authorities about Brendan. He sat on the couch without even looking back at Cuddy doing so and popped on the TV. The first picture that appeared was a wrestling show. He seemed content with that, for he sat back into the couch and crossed his legs at the ankles when he rested them on the coffee table.

He forgot about Cuddy and ignored her phone call.

Cuddy made herself known and sat on the opposite end of the couch after she was through, Rachel still in her arms. Since she had the diaper bag with her, which was full of the necessities for her baby, Cuddy pulled out a bottle from the side pocket and fed her. She didn't look over at House once. Instead, she talked baby talk to Rachel when the baby looked up at her adoringly with wide eyes while she ate.

"Do you have to make that noise?" House muttered.

"What noise?"

"That stupid cooing back to the kid."

"Yes. Now stop talking." Cuddy wasn't being rude, or forceful. In fact, she had to stop herself from laughing. Giving House a taste of his own medicine was fun.

House stuffed his face with more chips. The further he went on eating them, the more Cuddy was sure he was chewing loudly and with his mouth open to annoy her. She officially got the hint when he sucked loudly at the top of his beer can to make the most obnoxious slurping sound that Cuddy had ever heard.

"Alright, House, you made your point already, whatever the hell it is."

"Want to order takeout?" he asked, changing the subject quickly, adding a charming smile. Don't get too excited, there was a lot of sarcasm behind that smile.

Cuddy agreed. They had ordered Chinese. House actually asked Cuddy what she wanted to eat, which was a surprise. They ate in silence at first where the only sounds heard throughout the room was crunching and munching. Cuddy had put Rachel down to sleep, so it was just them, sitting at opposite sides of the couch, watching wrestling. If House didn't want to talk, she didn't want to make him. However, if she took notice, he did more glancing over to her than watching TV.

"So what do you still see in that asshole anyway?"

Cuddy paused before speaking, chewing and swallowing what she had in her mouth.

"You owe a lot of people an explanation on how you can be so stupid."

"House, for your information, even though that Brendan is a psycho, I'd still rather be in his bed than yours."

"Yeah, well, there's a difference there, for sure. At least in my bed, you know you'll wake up alive. In his…assuming you've ever been in his bed, if you can find it through all the camera equipment and pictures of dead women…you'd be lucky if you could get up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water without him removing a finger."

"That's uncalled for, House, and you know it. I was attracted to Brendan way before I knew this of him. There are feelings there that won't go away just because he turned into what he is. Maybe you can turn your feelings off like a light, but I can't."

House shook his head. "I swore you'd be a lot smarter than this, Cuddy." He took a huge bite of an egg roll before speaking, and spoke with his mouth full. "I understand that you haven't had sex in the longest time before you met him, but I'm sure there are other guys willing to bang you in a heartbeat."

Cuddy sighed. "It's not about the sex," she said. It was a miracle she could understand him with his mouth full like that. "I'm forty-three, House. I'm not getting any younger. I want a relationship with someone."

"Yeah, and it has to be Gilles de Rais from across the street," he said in his usual dry tone before eating another forkful of pork fried rice.

"Brendan showed me how beautiful I was," Cuddy said. "No man has ever taken the time to do that."

"How…did he _show_ you?" he asked.

Cuddy leaned back into the couch and brought her legs up onto the cushions, crossing them before grabbing her pint of lo mein and chopsticks from the coffee table. "He just…Oh I don't know, House, he—"

"Did he tell you?"

"Tell me what?" she asked, bearing a frown.

"Tell you that you were beautiful."

She shrugged and dug into her lo mein. "Anyone's capable of that, even you. I'm not getting into the details."

"So if I told you that you were beautiful, it would go in one ear and out the other."

Cuddy shrugged. "Probably, yes," she said, followed by a nod. "Because I know that you're only saying it so you can get laid, not because you mean it."

House laughed at that. It was loud and fake. "Good one. You know me too well."

"Typical. Just so you know, I'm not sleeping with you, so don't even try."

House lolled his head to the side and made a puppy face, followed by a begging whine.

Cuddy sent him a deep frown. Was he actually begging to sleep with her? "House, the answer is no."

"Okay, fine." He straightened himself up again and dug back into his food. "Bet I can change your mind before the night's out."

"Fat chance. Get a hooker or something if you're that desperate for sex."

"Nope. I'm going to show you that there's more out there to love than serial killers."

Cuddy's eyes raised a few centimeters. Her mouth dropped. "House, I am not sleeping with you. We are not having this discussion. And stop using the word love. I told you it freaks me out."

"Why? Afraid there might be something connected to it?"

"If there is, it's fake."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because you wouldn't let me stay at home!"

Their bickering went on for minutes, covering the rest of their dinner.

Cuddy looked at her watch after she finished the last bite of food. "It's getting late. I'm tired."

"You're not tired; you just want to get away from me."

"That, too," Cuddy said, smiling at him before coming to a stand. "Goodnight, House."

Even though he was a constant pain in the ass, House meant well…sometimes.

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	15. Silhouettes

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"Hey, hey, wait a minute," he said, getting her attention before she disappeared down the hall. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I just told you where I was going."

"Uh uh, not in my bed. You're sleeping on the couch."

"The hell I am. I'm not sleeping on that lumpy old thing. And I'm not sleeping in that lawn chair thing either. You wanted me here, you have to make sacrifices."

"Fine. It's a big bed. We can share." He shut the TV off and stood up to join her.

Cuddy looked surprised, as if sleeping in the same bed with Gregory House was completely unheard of.

"Go. Lead the way," he said when she wasn't moving.

"I'm not sleeping with you!" she said, clearly meaning sleep in the same bed, not having sex.

House wiggled his brow and drank her in with his eyes. "Mmmm…Bet I can change your mind."

"Oh grow up!" she berated and walked down the hall.

House chuckled followed a ways behind her. "Oh sure, tell _me_ to grow up. I think you're acting a bit more childish than I am now with this whole 'oh Brendan, you want to kill me, but please sweep me off my feet first so we can run away and get married first,'" he said, using a sarcastic high pitched Cuddy voice and waving his hands in the air for extra effect.

Cuddy shot a look back at him. "Shut up."

House didn't say anything more and either did Cuddy when her eyes were completely fixated on him removing his pants and shirt.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked as soon as she could find her voice.

"Getting ready for bed, what does it look like?" He stripped down until he was in his blue and white stripped boxer shorts and tossed his clothes over to the corner in a heap.

"Okay, this isn't going to work out," Cuddy said, but made no effort to flee the room.

"What's not?" he asked.

"THIS." She motioned towards his boxers and then his clothes on the floor.

House frowned. "You expect me to sleep in my clothes?"

Cuddy wanted to speak, but she couldn't. He had no reason to sleep in his clothes, nor should he have to.

"It's just weird."

"Yeah, well get over it. I do not sleep in jeans for anyone, not even the gay cellmate in the next block."

"You're right," Cuddy said and tried to loosen up a bit. She turned down the sheets and fluffed up the pillow she would be using. She wasn't paying any attention on what House was doing the whole time. He reached inside his dresser and pulled out one of his infamous Pink Floyd shirts for her to wear.

It was at the tip of Cuddy's tongue to tell him that she left her place without bringing anything to wear. It's bad enough she had to go to bed without brushing her teeth or washing her face. There's no way she could sleep in her clothes.

She turned to House just as he handed her the shirt. "There's an extra toothbrush in the cabinet. It's still in the package I think."

Cuddy took the shirt and smiled at him. "Wow…this is almost sweet of you, House."

House shrugged, not digging too deep into it. "Yeah, whatever. Shut off the hall light when you come back in here. I'll…leave the lamplight on at your side of the bed so you don't trip on something random when you come back in here."

Only Cuddy could go from feeling uncomfortable and wanting to leave to thinking House couldn't possibly be any sweeter right now. Guess it didn't take much after all.

Cuddy did her business, brushed her teeth and washed up before going to bed. She felt slightly weird about sleeping in the same bed as House. This had never happened before. Even twenty years ago they didn't share the same bed. They had loveless sex and he left. No sleeping was in order. This was new for them. House didn't seem to care. He was on his part of the bed and laying on his side, appearing to be sleeping. Cuddy shut the light off as instructed and went to close the door, only she didn't close it all the way and left it open a peek.

"Shut the door all the way," House muttered with his eyes closed.

Cuddy did so without question.

"Hurry, that light is bothering me."

"Relax, House," she said, walking to her side of the bed. "You really do get cranky when you're tired."

"I also get cranky when people sleep in my bed that do not intend to have sex with me."

"I'm sure you'll get over it," she said, setting herself down in her own side of the bed and slipping under the covers. They almost caught her by surprise. She didn't figure House would have a thread count higher than 200. This felt like it was past 800 and Cuddy feared she would never want to get out of bed in the morning now.

"Did you check on the kid? I better not be woken up by her at all tonight."

"Then you should've just let us stay home," Cuddy said with a smile in her voice as she flicked off the lamplight. The entire room was pitch dark. There wasn't even any outside streetlights peeking past the curtains.

"Is it always so dark in here?"

"Yes, now shut up."

"House, we need to talk."

"No we don't."

"Yes we do and you know it."

"You're breathing on my neck," House complained.

Cuddy didn't realize how close she was to House and backed away a bit. "I can't stay here forever. I shouldn't even be here right now."

"It's either you stay here now, or go back home and not live to see tomorrow."

"Why do you care?"

"We've been over this already. I don't want to go through the hassle of trying to manipulate another Dean of Medicine. With my luck it'll be some hard ass who would never let me cut clinic duty."

A smile crept onto Cuddy's face. "Yes, that's right, House. You better be good to me."

"What do you call this? I'm rescuing you from that creep. What more do you want, woman?"

"Nothing. It's a shocker as is to see you like this. I don't expect anything more."

"Good, because you won't get it."

Cuddy chuckled. She wiggled further under the sheets until her head was right in the middle of the pillow. She sighed and closed her eyes. Complete silence fell in the room, except for their breathing. Being this close to House gave her a feeling of protection and comfort. She felt safer with him right now than with anyone else, even Brendan. Even before she found the evidence and things at his home earlier tonight, she still felt the absence of security. House, although he would never admit it, would do anything for her. As hard as it was to tell her to come home with him and sleep in his bed beside him, he managed to get it across. He still made himself out to be a jerk while doing so, but Cuddy knew that was just a cover. He showed how he felt already once before while trying to avert her obsession away from Brendan. That was probably the hardest thing he ever had to do.

"Do you still love him?" House asked after a pause.

"Brendan?"

"No, your top benefactor," he said sarcastically.

Cuddy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Cute."

"Well, do you?" he pushed.

"I don't…I don't think I loved him, I think I loved the idea of him. I'm not getting any younger and he just seemed so perfect that I became brainwashed in a sense. He made me think that no one else but him could ever love me."

"That's such bullshit."

"No it isn't, House. Do I look like I have people knocking down my door, wanting to spend the rest of their lives with me? He showed me love, love I didn't know existed. He…He was wonderful to me and I got used to it a little more than I should've."

"Ya think? If I known you were attracted to crazy psychos, I would've given you the number to my uncle Chester in prison somewhere."

"Not funny. I didn't know he was what he was until today. All the other times, House, even you would've been turned on by his charm."

"Uh…no thanks, I prefer the company of hookers."

"You know what I mean. I just wanted someone to tell me I was beautiful and love me for who I am, not what I do. Not like I would expect you to understand—"

"You're beautiful," House said suddenly.

"I'm…" Cuddy was stunned. She didn't expect to hear this from him. Her eyes were wide.

"Don't make me repeat it. Just go to sleep. We'll go down to the station tomorrow and file a report against the freak."

Cuddy admired him. A smile still remained on her face from him saying she was beautiful. It lit her up inside. However, she respected his wishes and didn't say a word after that.

For the first time, Cuddy had to ask herself if she saw a relationship for them in the future. Maybe nothing too complicating, maybe just a few make out sessions here and there. Of course that's how it would start, but knowing House, he'd want more. They'd end up sleeping together, it would get awkward, and, well, everyone knows how it would end. But when you're in love and you feel that tingly feeling in your stomach, your heart is all aflutter, and nothing they do seems wrong, you know at the moment you don't think of the what ifs. She feels for House what she felt for Brendan. At least with House, she knows the feelings would be safe. House wouldn't pop out of nowhere and suddenly slug her just because she woke up before him one morning. At least she hoped.

Cuddy felt House shift a bit, but still laid on his side, facing away from her. Cuddy didn't know what had come over her. She scooted over gently so she was laying directly beside him and rested her head against the back of his neck. She leaned in and closed her eyes. House didn't say anything. Cuddy thought that maybe he was asleep. However, when he took a hold of her hand that was resting on his side, she knew he wasn't, and that he didn't mind this position.

"Night, House."

"Night, Cuddy."

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**Thanks for reading! There will be some upcoming Huddy moments. I'm dying to get them together but never can find the right time! Hopefully in the next chapter I'll have some nice Huddy stuff for everyone :)**


	16. A Dozen Roses II

**Once again, thanks everyone for the great reviews!**

**Enjoy :)**

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Cuddy awoke with a start the next morning after hearing something that sounded like a window breaking. Heart racing, she immediately looked over to both windows that House had in his room. They were intact, but that didn't stop her worry.

Where was House? He wasn't with her and usually it was hours before he was even conscious. The light was barely coming through the curtains. Cuddy could see around the room, but preferred not to get out of bed. She could see Rachel sleeping in the corner of the room in her tiny to go bed that Cuddy had in the trunk of her car.

"House?" she called out, but it wasn't that loud.

She gasped as the door opened and protectively brought the blankets up to her chin like a scared four year old afraid of the boogeyman. She relaxed easy when it was House.

"What fell?" she asked, a little scared.

"What do you mean?" he asked, sounding irritable and grouchy.

"I heard glass shatter."

"Oh right, watch your bare feet if you go into the bathroom," he said and climbed back into bed. "I'm going back to sleep."

Cuddy wasn't tired, but didn't want to leave the bed either. The glass breaking in the bathroom couldn't have been very loud, but to her, it sounded like someone smashed something right beside her.

"House," she said, barely moving her mouth.

"What?" he said crankily.

"I'm scared."

House turned only his head around to meet her gaze. "Seriously?" he said, acting as if it were impossible for Cuddy to be scared. Her uneven breathing told him this. It would've told him earlier if he was paying attention. She looked as if she had the wits scared out of her between the time it took him to get out of bed to use the bathroom to now.

"What, do you think that's wrong?"

"No, I just never heard you admit to being scared before."

"I am human, you know. I think I have a reason to be scared."

"No you don't. You're still all over this guy's nuts like some hungry squirrel."

Cuddy's mouth dropped. "House!"

He grimaced. "God, keep your voice down, woman. It's way too early in the morning to hear shrieking, especially from you. I'm going back to sleep."

"God, why can't you just be human for a change. You begged me to come stay with you."

"And you said yes."

"No, you drove away with me in my car before I could say anything. And even then, I still said no."

"Can we have this discussion later? I'm tired," he said, stifling a fake, dramatic yawn.

Cuddy was more annoyed now than scared. She didn't understand him. First, he was concerned about her enough to outrun Brendan and now he was back to his old self.

"Fine, once I leave here and you never hear from me again, you'll know why." Cuddy jumped out of bed and donned a robe.

"Why?" he asked, eyes half closed as he looked back at her.

"Now it really doesn't matter, does it? Go back to sleep. Don't let me stop you."

"You already have. Go make some coffee. I like my eggs over easy and the bacon crispy. Decorate it with cute little strawberries if you want."

Cuddy scoffed. "You make it your damn self. I'm going home to get ready for work."

"It's Saturday."

"Anything's better than being here," she snapped, leaving the room.

Why couldn't he ever take her seriously? Here she was, saying how scared she was and he didn't even budge. She could've cared less for his help yesterday and he was there with open arms, providing a place to stay and be safe. Did she have to pretend everything was okay in order to meet his eye? It looks that way lately. Did she have to be on her deathbed in order for him to see clearly? Or maybe Brendan had to come back and steal her away to get him to open his eyes.

Either way, Cuddy felt agitated and it made her blood boil. What did she expect from House anyway? Stealing her was probably the only thing he'd do. Now she had to fend for herself.

She squeezed a little more toothpaste onto the toothbrush than she wanted. Her nerves were so wound up, making her fists clench tighter than normal.

"Dammit," she cussed, tipping the brush and watching the excess toothpaste clump off and into the sink.

She did her business in the bathroom, cleaned up a small broken bottle that smashed earlier, and walked out to the living room. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to make coffee anyway. House will be House. There's nothing she could do about the way he was, as much as she wanted to change him. At most, the jerk will get some coffee out of her.

Cuddy was moments from turning the corner to go into the kitchen when something in the living room had caught her eye. On House's piano, there was a dozen red roses in a bouquet and an actual greeting card in a white envelope beneath them. Upon instinct, she immediately turned her head and looked around, expecting to find someone there. She thought that maybe, just maybe it was House apologizing. But how could he have gotten the roses so fast?

Then she thought of Brendan, but how would he get in here? Did he even know the address? It wouldn't be hard to find.

"Please…oh please let them be from House," Cuddy whispered aloud, but did so, barely moving her mouth.

With every small step she took, her heart beat a little faster until it was pounding in her ears. She reached for the white envelope with a shaky hand. Tears came to her eyes, blurring up her vision. However, she was clearly able to make out the name on the envelope. Lisa.

Her breath was caught in her throat as she lifted open the flap of the envelope. They had to be from House. They just had to be. Brendan couldn't get in here…could he? Surely one of them would've heard him. What if it was him? What would she do? House never called her Lisa before. At least not recently.

Cuddy opened the card. Her world suddenly fell down around her.

"Lisa,

It's been a while since we've written to each other, hasn't it? It's also been a long time since I've sent you flowers. I'm sorry about what you've had to go through yesterday. I never wanted you to see that side of me. I know you've alerted the authorities, so unfortunately I had to clear out my things and move. I didn't go far. Not yet, anyway. I know you think I'm crazy for thinking this, but I'm so in love with you that it's killing me. It's making me do things I didn't want to come out when I'm around you. House interfering in our relationship made me do what I did. I thought I was losing you and it scared me. Just give me one more chance. I know you still love me. Brendan."

Tears fell from Cuddy's eyes as she set the card back onto the piano. Her whole body went numb. 'Okay, Lisa, don't panic…think…' Brendan's been here. That's obvious. Was he still here? If not, was he far?

"Don't be scared," whispered a voice in her ear.

Cuddy gasped and held it, but didn't turn herself around or make any big movements. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back into a warm embrace. If she didn't hear his voice, she definitely would've known who it was by this action. Brendan always surprised her from behind, wrapping is arms around her and pulling her into him.

Even though Cuddy got that flutter in her heart, the same one she always gets when he does this, fear also remained.

"I want you to come with me, Lisa. Let me take you away so we can be together."

Cuddy was scared, whether he told her to be or not. She couldn't breathe. She didn't know whether to be horrified that Brendan was in House's apartment leaving roses and wanting to take her back, or the fact that she felt old feelings return for him, but also felt afraid of him.

"Brendan, I—"

"No, no, shhh, don't think about it right now. Let me take you for coffee and we'll talk."

"I-I can't, I promised House I'd make his breakfast for him."

Brendan chuckled a small chuckle that made her skin crawl. "You didn't promise that. And plus, he won't be awake for hours yet. You'll be back in no time."

"Will I?" she asked, doubt in her voice.

"Absolutely. I promise you. Since when have I ever broken a promise? And you'll need to come back eventually. Rachel's here."

Cuddy swallowed hard and finally felt herself be able to breathe again. Brendan brushed his lips up against her neck and let out a soft moan.

"I've missed this," he whispered. "I've missed you."

Cuddy couldn't remember what happened yesterday. All she could do was see into the moment and right now, Brendan made her feel good. He didn't treat her like House did. Brendan knew how he felt about her and told her without giving her the runaround.

"Say you'll come with me."

A part of Cuddy wanted House to get his ass up and come to her. She wanted to him to see what was going on and pull her back to make up her mind for her. Right now, her heart was winning against her mind. She loved House, but he could never give her the things Brendan can. But if she stayed with Brendan, she could very well end up hurt, despite his promises.

"Lisa?"

"God…" Her eyes fluttered closed and her neck arched as he kissed it more hungrily.

"I can love you and give you everything you want if you let me. Everything you desire. Just name it."

I want…I want…God, what do I want?...

I want to be loved. I want to be adored. I want…

"I want…to stay here with House."

She spun around and saw Brendan for the first time that morning. He looked as handsome as ever, even though he looked as if he were about to strangle her for saying what she just did.

"What?" Brendan was outraged. "He'll never love you like I do. No one can EVER love you like I do!"

Cuddy shook her head. She was still torn between the both, and even if House never respected her in that way, at least she'll be safe.

"I'm sorry. Please leave and don't come back." Cuddy found she had to force herself to say that.

Brendan wasn't going to win willingly. He knew that.

"Are you sure I can't change your mind?" he asked, not sounding too worried.

Cuddy shook her head. "I'm sorry. What I saw yesterday scared me. I can't be involved in that."

"What the hell are you doing in here?" The voice belonged to House…and he wasn't happy in the least to see Brendan's face.

Brendan was a little worried that House was there, but it didn't last long. "Claiming what's mine. Lisa said she'd come with me."

Cuddy was afraid to speak. She saw how this ended yesterday and didn't want to see it again. She didn't want House getting hurt because of her.

"She doesn't belong to you. This house, however, belongs to me, and you're trespassing. Get out."

House limped forth. As strong as House was, Brendan fought dirty. He'd kick House where it counted, and that would be his upper leg to bring him down fast and hard. House wouldn't win. One punch or kick there, no matter how major or minor, he'd be on the ground, defenseless.

"You've made a great recovery since yesterday, I must say. The leg looks like it still hurts, though. Does it?"

"Please, just stop. If I go with you, will you leave House alone?" she asked Brendan.

"Of course."

That was a lie. Everyone knew it.

"No, Cuddy, don't do it." House's eyes begged her from afar. If she left him now, there's a good chance he'd never see her again. Not even the biggest asshole in the world could handle that if it's someone he cares about.

"I'm sorry, House," Cuddy mumbled, lower lip trembling. Tears came forth once more. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, sorry, House," Brendan mocked and pulled on Cuddy's arm. "Let's go."

Cuddy hesitated and it only made him angrier. "Come on!" he said, getting impatient.

"Let her go if you know what's good for you." House stepped closer.

"And you better back off if you know what's good for YOU," Brendan countered, thinking he had the upper hand, just because House was a cripple.

House got closer. "Do you know what cripples do when we can't use our legs?"

"What?" Brendan asked with a bit of an attitude.

"We focus on using our arms," he said and used up all his anguish, love, hate, and everything else he could into a punch that would no doubt shatter Brendan's cheekbone. Cuddy let out a cry as Brendan flew backwards, colliding into an armchair and falling down over it.

"Call the cops," House told Cuddy.

"House, you can't fight him," she said, worried about him.

"Just do it. I'll be fine." He kept firm eye contact with Brendan. He wasn't going to let this one go that easily.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Brendan recovered quickly. "Lisa, you pick up that phone and I will cut off the things you love, one by one."

"You have a lot of balls saying that to someone you supposedly love. You haven't changed. You're a bigger asshole than me and I didn't think that was possible for anyone to achieve. Call the cops."

Cuddy was right by her cell phone, hand hovering over it like an open crane about to grab the prize, but made no movements.

"She won't. She loves me."

"In your dreams, maybe."

"I give her what you won't." He stepped closer to House. "But you have to wonder—why would Lisa want you when you don't show you give two shits about her?"

"Why don't you mind your own business and get out of here before I make you."

"Guys, please, this is juvenile and stupid! Brendan, just get out of here! Please."

Brendan refused to move. "Not without you. I'm serious when I say that. And if I have to cheat, I will."

Out from the back lining of his pants he pulled out what was recognized straight away to be a gun. "I wasn't prepared last time. This time I am. I didn't want to do this. I was hoping for a better way." He aimed the gun to Cuddy and then to the door, silently gesturing her to leave.

"You think I'm afraid of you just because you have a gun?" House asked, following a chuckle, perhaps forgetting that that little device had the power to end his life in five seconds and the person behind it wasn't afraid to use it.

"House, House, no." Cuddy panicked and reached her hand out into the air when he stepped a foot closer. "I'll go with you, just don't hurt him."

"It's amazing how you feel the need to protect him so." Jealousy was heard hard in his voice. "What a waste, considering he'll never feel the same for you."

"It doesn't matter if he feels that way or not, Brendan, that's not the point here. You don't need to hurt him like that. You'll hurt him enough by taking me."

Brendan sighed. This was getting aggravating without a doubt. Holding the gun towards House, he walked briskly up to Cuddy and grabbed her by the arm. Even though Cuddy was still afraid, she felt a little better knowing House would be safe.

"I always get what I want."

Forget about safe. A loud boom filled Cuddy's ears. When the sudden noise disappeared as fast as it came on, House was no longer standing. Instead, he was on the floor, holding his bad leg and crying out in pain.

Cuddy felt her knees go weak. Why did he do that?! He had already won, why did he need to carry it further?!

"Let him bleed to death," he said and pulled her. It was easy to pull her now that her body fell weak again.

Brendan wouldn't shoot her. She used that to her advantage. This time, her mind worked with her heart and snapped her back into reality. Looking at House writhing in pain on the floor, bleeding from where his infarction was, Cuddy felt the way she should be feeling. She struggled as hard as she could to get out of his grasp and dashed down by House's side to tend to him. She immediately used the tie of her silk robe to tie around his leg.

She hated Brendan. She hated every inch of him and this is what it had to take for her to realize this. If she left House like this, no one would know he was here to come save him in time. He would die.

There's no way she would let that happen, whether he loved her or hated her as a result. He would not die because she was selfish enough to think of her own needs before anyone else's.

"I'm not going with you," Cuddy said, standing her ground, wrapping her arms around House, protecting him. "I don't care what you do to me."

Brendan paused for a moment to take in his surroundings. Too much damage was done for one day and even he knew when it was time to call it quits. It wouldn't be quits forever though. He would be back to claim his Lisa.

Brendan turned around and left after that, calling it a day.

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**Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think :)**


	17. Invincible

**I heavily apologize for the lack of updates with this story, but I've had writer's block for the longest time, and even now, I don't think it came out all that great. I hope that everyone who reads it feels differently! And thank you all for the great reviews! :)**

**Enjoy :)**

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There was so much blood that it overwhelmed Cuddy. She called for an ambulance but it definitely wasn't coming fast enough. Cuddy's fingers and palms were covered. Some of it was also on her bathrobe, as well as tiny smudges on her face. When the tears fell from her eye, they met with the blood, causing it to streak.

House was suddenly starting to feel dizzy from the loss of blood. His Vicodin helped him with the pain, but it didn't help with the dizziness.

"God, there's so much blood, House…"

Being a doctor, Cuddy was well aware of the damages on House with this much blood loss. The bullet had to have hit an artery. He may have to lose his leg for sure now.

"Cuddy…"

Cuddy was paying so much attention to the wound that she didn't realize House was having a difficult time staying conscious.

"I'm—I'm sorry…about earlier."

An apology from House was rare, especially a sincere one. Cuddy didn't have time to dwell over whether it was sincere or not at the moment. In fact, the apology didn't mean anything to her. Keeping him alive did.

"I don't want to hear it, House. We'll talk about it later."

Just then the ambulance came. Cuddy barely had time to move out of the way when a bustling team came through with stretchers and equipment to keep House breathing.

Cuddy wanted to go with them, as did House, but with her looking as if she had just come out of a butcher shop with the amount of blood she was wearing, she couldn't. Not to mention she was only wearing a nightgown and Rachel was still in his apartment. With Brendan on the loose, she couldn't just leave Rachel anywhere with a sitter. She would have to go too. Since they were heading to Princeton Plainsboro, she knew she could take her there without it being an issue.

Cuddy had House on the brain the entire time she cleaned herself up. It was hard not to when she was wearing his blood. Cuddy had seen some pretty horrible things in her career field, but nothing tops this. She saw the horrified look on House's face when he was shot and in pain afterwards. It was so frightening to see. She would never be able to get that image out of her head.

House was strong. He wouldn't give up so easily.

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She arrived at the hospital not too long after she changed, showered, and got Rachel together. She didn't even contemplate the fact that Brendan could be following her. He didn't cross her mind once. She was too focused on House. What would happen to him? There was so much blood on the floor…

House was rushed into immediate surgery to remove the bullet. Sometime between his apartment and the hospital, he blacked out from the pain, but his breathing was regular. Cuddy stood with Rachel up in the observation area, rocking the sleeping infant back and forth before setting her back into her stroller.

Just then, the doors opened. Cuddy tossed a look over her shoulder to see who it was. She was surprised to see it being Cameron that walked in.

"How is he?" she asked, standing beside Cuddy.

"So far so good."

Cameron just nodded and carefully glanced to Cuddy. "And how about you?"

"I'm not really focused on myself right now, Cameron," she unintentionally snapped.

"But you must be exhausted."

Cuddy chuckled, but no humor came from it. "Exhausted is the wrong word. Try stressed, angry, and spooked."

Cameron lowered her head. "I'm sorry. I know it's hard."

"Don't you have work to do?" Cuddy didn't feel like being told how she felt. Feeling that way in the first place is bad enough. She didn't need someone like Cameron to rely it back to her.

Cameron passed her a sympathetic smile. "Right. Sorry."

She walked to the door, but then turned around. "Lisa…if you need me to take Rachel for a few days, just let me know. I want to help you."

That might not be a bad idea. It would give her time to be with House, but with Brendan running amok and terrorizing them, letting Rachel out of her sight might not be a good thing to do.

"Thank you," Cuddy said, appreciating the offer.

Cameron left after that, but no sooner after she left, Wilson showed up. Cuddy felt a little eased at his presence over Cameron's and didn't usher him out like he did to her. She allowed him to step up and hug her. In fact, it felt comforting. Cuddy didn't object.

"Did they remove the bullet yet?" he asked.

"Almost. I'm so worried."

"You think he might lose his leg?"

Cuddy nodded. "God…if he does, it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault."

"If I never went out with Brendan, this wouldn't be happening. It is my fault and nothing you say is going to change that."

"You didn't know Brendan was going to turn out like this."

Cuddy sighed. "I should've. He wrote me letters, James. He wrote letters and left flowers. People don't do that to people they don't know. If he wanted to get to know me, he could've knocked on my door or called me."

"Right, and that's not in any way less creepy," he said a bit sarcastically.

"The point is I'm the idiot here who wanted love and appreciation so badly that I fell right into his trap. Now he's out there doing god knows what, probably plotting revenge against House. Hell, he's probably one of the guys in scrubs down there, just waiting to knick an artery or something and have him bleed to death."

"Lisa, that's a bit overdoing it, don't you think?"

She turned to him, eyes widened. "Do you have any idea what I've seen over the past few days, let alone the past few weeks? Any idea at all? He had _pictures_ of Rachel and me on his wall, as well as pictures of past victims he likes to torture and terrorize before he kills them. He had _boxes _filled to the top with pictures. You know why I'm not dead yet? Because he likes me too much to end it now. Instead, he's hurting the ones I love, enjoying the look of horror displayed on my face, wondering just how far I would go to save them."

"Wow. Lisa, I'm sorry, I had no idea. I knew about Brendan to a certain extent, but I never knew—"

"It's fine. I'm not looking for pity or sympathy."

"Wait, so you were in his house? When?"

"Yesterday. House found out he lived right across the street from me and wanted to see inside for some stupid reason or another. Brendan came home and the two fought like two eleven year old boys over some ten year old girl they were "in love" with. It turned out to be a "my dick is bigger than your dick" fight. House clipped him at the back of the head and I ran off with him like it were some happy ending fairytale."

"So…that's good, right?"

Cuddy felt tears well up in her eyes. "I wanted to stay with Brendan. I even said I would've married him if he asked me, despite him being violent with me. When did I get my priorities mixed up? When did I become so pathetic?"

Wilson took her into his arms and that's where she let out everything she had been holding in. She soaked his shoulder up with her tears.

"House almost died trying to save me," Cuddy sobbed. "How could I be so in love with someone who wants to hurt me and everyone I love?"

"You fell in love with him before you knew who he really was, Lisa," Wilson offered gently. "Sometimes it's not that easy to let go."

"I fell for something that wasn't real. He was telling me what I wanted to hear. He seemed too good to be true."

Wilson gently rocked her in his arms and shushed her.

"I'm afraid of what else he'll do to House. He was in his apartment today with flowers and a note for me." She held onto Wilson tighter and continued to cry. "I'm so scared."

"I won't let anything happen to you or House, I promise."

Cuddy pulled back a minute or so later and thanked him. Wilson ended up staying with her for the next two hours it took to complete the surgery. Everything was okay and there were no serious complications, despite all the blood loss. House was expected to recover and once the wound healed, it'd be like the bullet was never there. Cuddy had never been more relieved to hear that news.

Wilson left to go back to work while Cuddy and Rachel sat with House in ICU, waiting for him to regain consciousness. That part could take a while.

Cuddy put Rachel to sleep, disconnecting the seat of the stroller and turning it into a mock bassinette. Once her baby was fast asleep, she grew tired as well. She took House's hand in hers and fell asleep.

Surprisingly, there were no scary dreams that haunted her. Instead, she had a peaceful night's sleep and awoke to her hair being combed through with fingers.

It was House.

"Hey," Cuddy said tiredly, brushing the hair out of her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Better once I get out of here. What did they say about my leg?"

Cuddy smiled ear to ear. "There's no permanent nerve damage. It'll heal fine."

House laid back and sighed with relief, shutting his eyes. "Good. That son of a bitch I'll kill him the next time I see him."

Cuddy's smile faded as fast as it came on. House cracked open his eye and glanced over to her when she didn't say anything. "What?"

"Don't you think you should just leave him alone?"

"Oh here we go. Is this the part where you confess your undying love for him once again?"

Cuddy narrowed her eyes a bit. "No, it's me saving your ass from being shot again."

"I can take care of myself."

Cuddy glanced to his leg. "Oh really now? Could've fooled me."

"I can take care of myself. It's taking care of you that's getting me all shot up."

"Well no one said you had to come to my rescue, House. You're the one who keeps butting in. I never asked you to."

House sighed dramatically. "We've been through this already. If you die and we get another Dean of Medicine, I'll never be let out of clinic duty and probably get myself fired."

"And that's all I am to you? Just a pass to get out of clinic duty? House, not even you would go through that much trouble to get out of clinic duty."

House groaned and threw his hand to his forehead. "Can you stop talking? Your voice is hurting my head."

Cuddy stood there, throwing her fists to her hips. He opened his eyes and looked over at her.

"What, do you want a reward or something?"

"A simple thank you would've been nice."

"Yeah, in your next life."

Cuddy sat back down in the chair and folded her hands in her lap.

House sighed angrily. "Now you're making me mad."

"You know very well you don't want me to leave. What if Brendan shows up?"

House feigned being in love and made kissy noises with his lips. "You'll fall into his arms and live miserably ever after."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I think you got the two of you mixed up."

House smirked. "Nice."

"I learn from the best."

A pause filled the room for at least a minute. Cuddy watched House and House had his eyes closed. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Cuddy was content with just watching him. He probably fell back to sleep. He didn't look tired, but the drugs probably made him slip away. Quietly, Cuddy stood.

"Where you going?" House asked suddenly.

Guess he wasn't sleeping after all. "I'm going to change Rachel and go to my office. I'm sure there's tons of—"

"Let someone else handle it. I don't want you going down there alone."

Cuddy smiled again. That's the House she was looking for. Supposedly it took a few minutes after he awoke for it to come out.

"Aww gee House, does this mean you actually care what happens to me?"

"Someone has to. You obviously don't."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You still love the asshole, so I can assume you don't value your life as much as you should."

Cuddy's mouth fell open briefly before speaking. "For your information, House, I'm over him. I have been for a while now."

"What, for two whole seconds?"

"What do you care? You're only attacking him because you can't stand to see your toy being played with. You'd rather see it neglected in the corner of your bedroom, mixed in with all the other forgotten crap there."

"At least I know it'll be safe there. Do we need to go on? My head is really killing me here. You won, Cuddy. Go to work."

Cuddy sighed heavily. She shook her head slowly. "Unbelievable. So instead of having the guts to come out and say you care about me, you go and get yourself shot up, hoping I'd get the message."

"I wouldn't do it for my health."

"House, do you care about me?" she asked carefully, stepping closer to the bed.

He glanced to her, but didn't keep his eyes on her for very long. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Don't change the subject. Do you care about me?"

"Well now that you've browbeat me into it now of all times where I can't get up and run away, yes Cuddy, I do care about you. Happy now?"

It felt incredible to hear those words out of his mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Yes, I am very happy now. Thank you."

"Don't get used to it. Once that asshole is put behind bars, we can go back to the way things used to be. Can I go home now?"

"In about a week you can. Maybe sooner, depending on how fast the wound heals."

"Wow, suddenly everyone's a doctor."

Cuddy leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I won't be too far if you need me. Just page me."

"Will do, boss."

The both exchanged smiles before Cuddy left the room with Rachel.


	18. Giving Her Hope

**Hey, guys. Sorry to keep you waiting with this! I'm afraid I'm starting to lose interest in this story, but since things are starting to heat up, I might make a comeback. We'll see how it goes.**

**Enjoy :)**

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House was still a bit sketchy having Cuddy go down there alone, but security was extra tight and Cuddy felt safe. She had so much to do, but couldn't concentrate on it. Either Rachel was being fussy, or her mind was on House. Mostly, her mind was on House. It was a miracle that he got out of his brawl with Brendan okay. He also said he cared about her, which was incredible, and so unlike him. He practically said he was only caring about her until Brendan was put behind bars and then they could go back to the way they used to be. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. She had to admit it to herself that she liked the way House was being so protective of her, but hated it in a way because he was so reckless and getting himself hurt. That shot to the leg was the last straw. He couldn't keep fighting her battles. Although Brendan was in his apartment and he did have every right to step in, but not anymore. He might not be so lucky next time. Brendan fights dirty, that's clear enough. He didn't hesitate to take out that gun and shoot House. Cuddy didn't want to experience the hurt and fear she felt the second she heard that gun go off and the bullet meet its destination. It would have to be right in House's thigh, too. Cuddy's stomach turned. Brendan was so evil that it killed her. Was she really that desperate for a man?

She fell in love with the idea of Brendan. He was a sweet man at first. If he showed his true self right away, things would be different now. He was just so sweet and loving. Cuddy needed that. She wanted someone to share her life with.

Cuddy looked up when there was a knock at the door. It was Cameron, holding a chart.

"How's House?" she asked.

Cuddy nodded. "He's holding up well. He gets to keep his leg, which is great. I'm just afraid there's more nerve damage than estimated." Cuddy's tone of voice was sad. "He'll be in even more pain if that's the case. Vicodin won't cut it."

Cameron nodded slowly.

"What do you have there?"

Cameron opened the chart and set it down in front of Cuddy. "It's from the ER. A patient came in with a shot wound to the head and the OR needs your signature to go ahead with the operation."

Cuddy signed it, along with various prescription meds to dull the pain afterwards. "Why did you bring it to me?" she asked. Usually the OR lead would do that.

"I wanted to see how you were holding up."

Cuddy handed the file back to Cameron. "I'll be better once I physically see Brendan behind bars."

"You look exhausted. Have you been getting a proper night's sleep?"

Cameron was just being concerned, but Cuddy didn't need a mother right now. She glanced up at her. "I'm fine, thanks," she said, a bit on the firm side. "I'm not really worried about myself right now, okay?"

Cameron accepted that answer and left. Cuddy let out a sigh that she's been holding in the whole time. She really did have other things on her mind, such as wondering where Brendan was. He couldn't have gone too far, but then again, he didn't stay that close either. He would probably make himself scarce for a few days and then blow back at full force. Now that House was in the hospital, Cuddy had no one to defend her. Brendan could very well scoop her up as soon as she walks out of here tonight and no one would ever know.

Suddenly, Cuddy didn't feel very safe, even in her own hospital.

------------------

"You're an idiot."

House cracked his eye open to see Wilson standing at his bedside with his arms folded.

"Oh well gee it's nice to see you too," House said sarcastically, reaching for his cup on the tray table. "Actually, I consider myself a hero. I saved a life."

"That's not why you're an idiot. You're an idiot because that life you saved you don't even view it as worth saving."

House frowned. "Can you repeat that, but slower?"

"Don't be a moron."

"But it's okay that I'm being called an idiot instead? Nice." He sucked some of the liquid from the straw before setting it back down again.

"When are you going to stop beating around the bush and tell Cuddy you love her?"

House's eyes widened. "Love is a very strong word, Jimmy."

"She loves you."

"Yeah, she loves me now that Brendan's a creep. She didn't take two glances at me before."

"And why do you think that is? Because you never gave her the time of day, that's why! You're always picking on her in some way."

"Well has it ever occurred to you that I pick on her because I love her?"

It was Wilson's turn to widen his eyes. "Wait…you do?"

"No! I'm just asking if that's ever occurred to you."

Wilson sighed heavily. "House, Cuddy is very vulnerable right now. She learned that the man she's been seeing, a man that she fell in love with, is out to get her. It's serious. She can't afford to be dealing with your contradictions right now."

"If you care so much, why don't you go get shot in the leg for her and leave me out of it."

"You love her. You need to tell her before it's too late."

"Too late? Don't get all morbid on me now, Jimmy."

"Trust me, House, if she hears those words from your mouth, she'll pull right through this. She needs to be loved."

House threw his hand towards the door. "Then be my guest. You're single."

"She doesn't love me and I don't love her. House, don't be like this. You wouldn't protect her if you didn't feel something for her."

"The asshole was in my apartment, what did you want me to do, sit back and pop open a beer?" House was getting angry now.

Wilson held his hands up. "Fine, whatever, but the second you see her face again, you better tell her how you feel. I don't want to sound morose, but she has someone after her, someone who's obviously not afraid to use a gun. She has security outside her office, but how long will that last? She can't stay in there forever."

"And what the hell do you want me to do about it? I clearly can't defend her. I'm useless to her. I try to save her and end up being shot by that fuck. Telling her I love her isn't going to save her."

"Maybe not physically, but it will mentally. For god sakes, just give the woman a little bit of hope. She's done a lot for you in the past. The least you can do is step out of your barrier and admit your feelings to her."

Wilson left after that. House laid back and closed his eyes. He was angry with a lot of things mentioned in the conversation but mostly angry because he knew Wilson was right. He loved Cuddy and if he couldn't tell her verbally, he told her by wanting to protect her. He still wanted to protect her, even now. He wanted to be the one outside her office door, not security.

Before he could think about it anymore, he paged Cuddy to come up to see him.

-------------------

Cuddy was staring into space when she got the page from House. Automatically, she thought it was something bad. She jumped up and rushed out so quickly that she nearly forgot Rachel. She picked up the baby in her arms and hurried out. Security followed her.

What could be wrong with House? Wouldn't the ICU nurses page her before House did?

For the entire minute, Cuddy was on edge. House could hear her coming by her heels clacking on the floor. He opened his eyes just as she pushed the door open.

"What's wrong?" she asked, catching her breath.

"You didn't have to run up here like that."

"Why did you page me?"

"I got bored, so I played with some buttons on the pager."

Cuddy sighed of both relief and annoyance. "House, you scared the crap out of me."

House frowned. "Delightful, I guess."

Cuddy would rather be up there with House than down in her office getting nothing done. She sat down and cradled Rachel in her arms. She was still fast asleep, unaware of what was going on.

"Do you have to bring that money sucker with you everywhere you go?"

"While I have some lunatic after me, yes."

"Do you really think he's a lunatic or are you just saying that?"

"Despite what you may think, yes, I think he's a lunatic. He's psychotic."

"Did you fall in love with him to spite me?"

Her mouth dropped. Where was this coming from?

"Was it so hurtful when I came to the door that night pretending to be him?"

Cuddy's face softened. She forgot about that. As painful as it would've been for Cuddy to realize that the love notes were fake, at least they would be from House, someone who would never hurt her. Come to find out later that the man who sent them had a fetish with torturing women and seeing them in pain.

"I wish it was you," she whispered.

"It will be, once I get out of this bed."

Cuddy felt tears prick her eyes. She blinked them back before they surfaced. "House, don't say things you don't mean. This is already hard enough on me without filling me with false hope."

This was so hard for House to come out like this, but Wilson was right—he was an idiot for not telling her sooner. He tried, but he just ended up sounding like a jealous bastard. Even now, she thought he was kidding. But the more he looked at her, the more he had to wonder what he's been waiting for. He could never amount to anything, but at least he wouldn't become a serial murderer and hold her against her will.

"I love you."

Cuddy nearly dropped Rachel out of her arms, that's how much she was taken aback by that. He's said it before, but only to daunt her away from Brendan. He didn't mean it.

"House, don't play games with me. I'm not exactly in the right headspace right now."

"I'm not playing games. Go with me on this, okay?"

Cuddy nodded. Her heart sped up in her chest. Was he going to admit his feelings for her?

"Would you want to go to dinner with me?"

Cuddy smiled small. "I'd like that."

Suddenly he sat up. "Give me my wheelchair."

Her face grew serious again. He meant right at the moment? "Not right now, House. You're not supposed to be mobile after surgery."

"Who said I'm mobile? You're pushing me."

Cuddy stood. "You know you can't leave your bed. I'll go get your dinner. Are you okay to eat?" She rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I wanted to take you down there to eat, right?"

Cuddy chuckled. "Right. Watch Rachel." She set her sleeping baby down beside House and put his arm around her.

"You sure that's a good idea?" he asked.

"Security will be right outside the door. Any requests off the menu?"

"Dry Reuben with no pickles."

That didn't surprise Cuddy. It's what he always ordered.

"You have a choice of processed turkey with frozen peas and applesauce, or some disgusting stroganoff that I wouldn't even feed my worst enemies," she said sympathetically.

House made a face. "Ugh. There's nothing wrong with my stomach, just my leg. Please don't let them feed me that horrible food, mommy, please?" he made a puppy face.

Cuddy lightly tapped his arm. "Okay, you big baby, I'll see what I can do."

Suddenly, House grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her over to him. She let out a small surprised squeal as their lips met. It had to be quick because of the way Cuddy was hunched over the bed uncomfortably. But it was just as magical, for it was their first real kiss. Cuddy pulled away with a smile.

"You earned your Reuben."


	19. Don't Stop Believing

**Thanks for the feedback on the previous chapter! **

**Unfortunately, as much as I want to continue this story, play some cat and mouse, it will be ending within the next chapter or so. I thank all of you who have become patient with me and my lack of updating this story!**

**Enjoy :)**

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Cuddy knew she was safe in her hospital. She knew that if anyone saw something suspicious, they would notify security, right? She felt fine walking down to the cafeteria with a smile on her face. Brendan wasn't even on her mind. House had kissed her. It was a true, genuine kiss, not something done in a hurry, even though he pulled her by the hand to make it look that way. It was still sensual and incredible. Her lips still tingled with the kiss. It's like nothing could go wrong right now. All it took to lighten up her life was a kiss from House—a kiss he actually meant, not a kiss to get her to change her mind about Brendan.

Just then, Wilson came jogging up to Cuddy from the inside of the cafeteria. The smile vanished from her face when she saw how serious he was.

"Brendan's loose in the hospital," he said in a hurry. Beads of sweat blanketed his forehead.

"Are you sure?" Cuddy asked, all happiness vanishing from her completely.

"Positive. Security caught him on camera in the clinic. He was checking out your office and then took the elevator upstairs where he vanished from radar all together. There was security out at every floor, waiting for him to get off. No one saw him get out of the elevator, or appear anywhere else in the building."

Cuddy's heart started pounding. She covered her mouth. "Oh god…I left Rachel with House."

Wilson held up his hands. "Don't worry, security's there. That's how I knew you were on your way down here. House and Rachel are fine."

Cuddy sighed with relief. "Oh thank god."

"We need to get you back upstairs."

It became clear to Cuddy that Brendan was never going to go away. He could continue to make her life a living hell, along with the lives of those she loves. He already tried to kill House and threatened to take Rachel away. Will there ever be an end to this? And how does a guy go up in an elevator and just disappear?

Cuddy hurried back upstairs with Wilson and approached her security. "Check the elevator shafts from top to bottom. He's hiding in there."

"We already did," one of them said. "We accessed the worker's cameras at every junction inside the shaft and we found nothing."

Cuddy's heart beat faster in her chest. Where was he?

Security remained tight in the ICU as House, Cuddy, and Rachel sat there, unknowing what was going to happen next. Wilson grabbed Rachel's things from Cuddy's office, as well as a Reuben for House and a turkey sandwich for Cuddy. Wilson knew that Brendan wouldn't do anything to harm him. Even if he did plan on it, Wilson would've still done those things for his friends. He delivered Cuddy another set of goods. Since she was going to be there for a while, Wilson went back to her home and grabbed some hair care and beauty products. He also grabbed a couple sets of clothes for her, as well as Rachel. He delivered those things to her that night. He wanted to stay with them, but Cuddy insisted that he go home and get some sleep. There was tight security outside the door, the windows didn't open, there was no other way to enter the room except by the front, so House and Cuddy figured they were safe. Wilson didn't need to be burdened with this. He was already risking the chance of being looked at as interfering in Brendan's eyes, even if Wilson thought there was no way Brendan would waste his time on him. Cuddy didn't want something happening to him also. No one was safe as long as they knew her. She was painfully realizing that. So far, she's just been lucky that no one else fell victim to this man's madness. Lord knows what he was going to do in her hospital.

"Can someone please see that he gets home okay?" Cuddy asked one of the men guarding her door.

"No, Lisa, really, it's fine," Wilson said, not wanting to be any trouble. "If he wanted to get me, he could've gotten me two hours ago when I went back and forth to get you your things."

"At least let someone walk you to your car. Please? I'll feel a lot better."

Wilson settled for that. One of the three heavily armed men that guarded Cuddy's door agreed to do so. Wilson and Cuddy exchanged hugs.

"I'll be back to check up on you guys tomorrow. Be safe."

Cuddy tapped his back. "You, too. Thanks for everything."

Wilson left after that. Cuddy had a gut feeling that might be the last time she saw him. It was stupid to think so, because Brendan wasn't going to leave the hospital to go after him when what he wanted was Cuddy at the moment.

"Who knew that you would star in your own horror show," House quipped as soon as Wilson left.

"I'm glad you can joke about this, House."

"Would this make me the protagonist that tries to save the beautiful woman from the creepy stalker guy?"

Cuddy's face remained serious. "I wish you wouldn't. I don't wish anyone to get mixed up in this. It's my fight and everyone's involved, even Wilson and Rachel."

"Well, it's too late now, isn't it? I'm involved, and I will continue to be until he tears me limb from limb."

Cuddy smiled small. "That doesn't seem like you."

"Last month, it wouldn't be me. But I'm telling you, Cuddy, you should've listened to me."

She sighed. "Can we not continue on with the I-told-you-so, please? He was about as perfect as Lucas Douglas. All he wanted was to get to know me, take me out on dates, and treat me the way a woman is supposed to be treated. And I was a sucker. I wanted love and found it in the wrong person."

"Yes, you did. No question about that. Too bad you didn't take my word for it when I admitted to liking you."

"You said it to me right after my date with Brendan. I thought you were jealous."

"I was," he admitted. "Why do you think I sabotage all your dates? Not for my health."

"That's when you say something, House. Were you afraid of me turning you down?"

"No."

"Then what?"

She sat in the chair beside the bed. "What were you afraid of?"

He hesitated before speaking. "Screwing up. You're a wonderful woman, Cuddy, you don't need a jerk like me in your life as a boyfriend."

She reached for his hand and held it in hers. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I want a jerk like you in my life as a boyfriend?" she asked, smiling.

"You deserve better. I'll only screw up. You know that's true. I'll drive you crazy."

"You already drive me crazy. It's all I'm used to," she joked, keeping her grin on.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered. "I can't let you be subjected to—"

"Oh cut the crap," Cuddy interrupted. "You can't tell me you love me and then close yourself up in a shell."

"But that's what I do. That's why I can't be with you. I'll lie, I'll cheat, I'll steal, I'll never change."

"You already have changed, House. Just by telling me your feelings for me, you've changed. Bring them out. Don't hold them in. I already have so much going on. Please don't hide on me now."

He tilted his head back and closed his eyes with a sigh. Cuddy rested her hand flat on his forehead and brushed his hair back. "I know it's hard." Tears welled up into her eyes. "And there's a lot going on right now, but we'll get through it, and then we can try to be together."

"Try being the active word. You'll never feel for me what I feel about you."

Cuddy shook her head. "No, House, that's not true. I love you, too."

He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. "That's bad."

"Why?" she asked desperately.

"You're only saying this because you're afraid of Brendan. Now that he's a creep, you suddenly love me?"

Cuddy's mouth dropped.

"It works both ways, Cuddy. If you loved me before, why didn't you tell me? We could've avoided this whole mess."

"I've loved you for twenty years, House. Even after our one-night stand, I did. I never forgot about you, even when I didn't see you until ten years later when we met up again after I got my job here."

"You didn't love me at Michigan. You told your roommate that I was selfish and arrogant."

Cuddy chuckled through her nose. "She told you that?"

"She was my girlfriend, of course she told me. She told me everything."

Cuddy chuckled again. "Nothing like getting into bed with your roommates boyfriend."

"In your defense, you were drunk."

"I wasn't all that drunk," she defended. "Sadie just had some grey goose and I got a little out of hand with mixing vodka and different types of juices, that's all."

"We practically drank the whole bottle," House remembered, smiling at the memory.

"No, House, we DID drink the whole bottle, remember? Your last creation for the final shot was a mix of vodka with apple juice and orange juice."

House's face soured up. "Yeah, that was pretty gross. I never would've tried that sober."

"And then I got mad that you didn't let me try it, so you let me lick it off your lips. Something I don't think I'd do either if I was sober."

"So then you do admit you were drunk?"

Cuddy shrugged. "Maybe just a little."

"That's an understatement and you know it," he said with a gentle smile.

Her smile matched his. They didn't say anything for a brief moment. They let their eyes do the talking instead. He lifted up his hand and brushed the backs of his fingers up against her cheek. She leaned her head into the touch.

"I never stopped loving you either," he admitted. "You've always had me at hello; I was just the jerk who didn't see a good thing until it bit me in the ass. The "it" being Brendan."

"Me, too. I'm so sorry this happened to you." She took his hand and enlaced their fingers. "They'll catch him. They know he's here."

"Yeah, but where? For all we know, he could be in an air vent shaft above this room, ready for us to be asleep and then he'll attack you. Or wait until you use the bathroom."

"I'll have security with me, House. We'll be fine. There's ten people out this door alone, two at every entrance to this place, three in the video room, watching cameras, and cops circling this place in cars. He's here and he's not escaping. If he comes out in the open, he will be caught. If he tries escaping, he'll be caught."

"Suppose all he wants to do is kill you and then die a happy man? Then what?"

"He won't kill me. He can't. He said so himself. He loves me like none of the others before me."

"But when he sees his life in danger, like it is now, he'll change the rules. Don't think he won't do it, Cuddy. He's here for a reason. He's well aware of the security that would be pouring through once he arrived. He might not be planning to leave here alive."

Cuddy's heart beat quickened in her chest.

"Don't be so naïve. That's what got us here in the first place. Think two steps ahead of him. Think that he brought a million guns with him and is two moments away from blowing the security in front of this room away with a single blow. Assume that he already dismantled the cameras so no one could see him coming. Know that he's listening to everything we're saying either by transmitter or because he's right above this floor. He might be in the bathroom attached to this room."

"Are you trying to scare me?"

"I'm trying to get you to open your eyes!" he said, a little louder than expected.

"They are open! I know what to expect!"

"I don't think you do. A part of you still wants him and you know the thrill is exciting."

Her mouth dropped. "How could you say that? He's hurt so many people, including you. If I thought this was so wonderful, wouldn't I be out there in the hallway, waving my arms around and telling him to come get me?"

"Not if you wanted to keep your cover, no. Let's just say you're waiting for me to get better because you feel guilty. When I am better, you plan to run away with him."

"Then I'd say you're an even bigger ass than ever before. I don't want him! I'm not attracted to evil."

"No, you're attracted to the part of him that's not evil—the part of him that he showed you before all this. You love it. You love him."

"He wasn't real. It was a façade—a game. I was a pawn in a cruel game and thank god he loved me, because if he didn't, I'd be dead right now. Yes, House, I did love him, but not anymore."

"Would you go away with him if it was the only way to save my life?"

Cuddy's breath hitched in her throat. How could she answer that?

"And Rachel's?" he added, saying her name for the very first time.

Cuddy could tell he was serious after saying her name. A tear fell from her eye and onto the bed. "Yes," she said, followed by a brief sob. "Yes, I would. If that's what it came down to."

Other tears fell after that one did. The grip she had on House's hand intensified.

He then shifted over a bit and invited her into bed with him. She did so, slipping in and putting her arm around him while laying her head on his shoulder. She never stopped crying. House put his arm around her and brushed his fingers gently up and down her upper arm.

"I don't want you doing that for me," he said. "You're too important. I stopped that happening once and I'll continue to do it. I don't care how many bullets he has."

He turned his head and kissed her forehead. "Promise me that if it does come up again, you won't sacrifice yourself for me. If you have the chance to run, take it. Save yourself."

"House, please don't talk about that anymore. It happened once; I can't handle it happening again."

House didn't know what to expect or how this would turn out. All he knew was that he was stuck in a hospital bed while the love of his life was huddled up beside him, scared out of her mind that some mad man was running amok in her hospital bent on getting a hold of her somehow. If he could, House would take a gun, preferably one of Brendan's, and shoot the man's head off, feeling no remorse.

He knew one thing—Brendan wasn't going to succeed. He wasn't going to get what he came here for. He'd see to it himself.

House kissed her forehead again. "Try to get some sleep."

Cuddy's crying calmed and then seized all together. She felt protected in House's arms and that helped her to become sleepy.

"I love you, House," she murmured, feeling sleep almost claim her.

"I love you more, Cuddy," he murmured back.


	20. Life Is Too Short

**Okay, this is it, last chapter. I could've gone on and dragged it out but my hands are so full with other stories that I don't have time for all of them. A special thanks to everyone who reviewed and kept the story alive. Hope you like the ending!**

**Enjoy :)**

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What gave Cuddy a rude awakening the next morning was an anxious tap on the shoulder. It was Wilson looking very concerned.

"Where's Rachel?"

"She's asleep. She's—" Cuddy looked over to the mock bassinet where Rachel was last, only to find it empty. That was enough to vanish any form of sleep away and bring her straight to her feet with panic. It also woke House up.

Wilson yelled in for someone to get in here. A security guard entered just in time to see Cuddy cover her mouth and start to cry.

"Where the hell were you guys last night?"

The security guard looked confused. "We were all here last night. No one moved once."

"He took my baby!" Cuddy cried, looking around as if Rachel would magically appear somewhere else in the room.

"This room was unguarded long enough for that asshole to come in and steal her baby!" Wilson yelled at him.

"We were here all night! No one entered or left this room!" the security guard insisted.

Cuddy felt nausea take over her body. How did he get her? If he didn't come through the front, he came into the room some other way. Cuddy wasn't exactly in the mood to think about how he could've done it. A mix of anger and hurt pulsed through her veins and started working together.

"Son of a bitch," she breathed and marched towards the sliding doors.

Wilson caught her by the arm. "Lisa, no." He knew what she was going to do.

Cuddy ripped her arm back. "Let me go."

Security tried to stop her, but she was just too angry to comply. Brendan took Rachel. He's the only one she wanted to see at the moment, not thinking about what this could do to herself in return. Brendan did this to lure her to him, and it was working nicely. She was falling into his lap. The only thing on her mind was getting Rachel back, and then pummeling the hell out of Brendan with her own two hands.

"Where are you, you sick bastard?!" Cuddy shouted once she was in the hallway and walking briskly towards the elevator, scaring anyone who was near her.

She gave strict orders to security to stay there, or they were fired. She wasn't kidding around either. Cuddy had never been more serious in her life. She gave the same command to Wilson, who chased after her the second she left in frenzy. He didn't obey her like the security guards did. He chased after her until they got to the elevators.

"I'm not letting you go at this alone," he said, not caring if he was fired or not. Cuddy was too important to fall into the hands of this lunatic.

"James, this is my daughter we're talking about," she said, fighting the urge to yell at him. "Go back to House and stay there."

"No, I'm not."

The elevator doors opened a moment later. It was empty. Cuddy was too angry to negotiate with Wilson.

"Go back, right now," she ordered with the deepest, most intense tone she could muster up. It turned out to be low and unlike anything Wilson ever heard.

What kind of friend would he be if he let Cuddy go, only to fall into the hands of this monster? Brendan didn't take Rachel because he wanted to hurt her; he took Rachel because he wanted Cuddy. Didn't Cuddy understand this? If she left Wilson's sight right now, there's no telling if she would ever be seen again. Wilson had a problem with that. A huge problem.

"Lisa, he could kill you."

"He's not going to kill me," she said.

"He will if he has no other option!" Wilson yelled, even though Cuddy was right in front of him. "You're an idiot! He won't hurt the baby. He's doing this so you'll come to him and you're making it all too easy for him. This is the stupidest thing you've ever done."

"Well no one said you had to agree with me."

"I won't let you walk into a deathtrap," he said, taking her by the arm.

"He wants to talk to me. I'm going to give him that request. Believe me, James, I'm thinking hard about this. My thinking has never been so sharp."

"Your thinking is clouded because he has your baby. You're willing to do anything to get her back. Lisa, please just let me go with you. You don't have to do this alone."

"If you come with me, he won't come out of hiding. Go back to the room. Do what I want. Please." Cuddy begged him with her eyes, as well as her voice. "If you had a daughter, you'd understand."

"I understand now, with or without kids."

"Then you know I have to do this alone. Brendan won't hurt me, even if he has nowhere to go and the place is surrounded."

"He snuck into a guarded room and took your daughter. He's probably miles away from here by now."

Cuddy shook her head. "He's not. He's in this elevator right now, waiting for me. I'll be back when we're done." She reached in and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for caring."

Wilson didn't want to let her go, but he did. He could fight with her for hours and restrain her, but she'll still find a way to get to the elevators to see Brendan. The best thing he could do right now was go back to the room and sit with House until this was all over and hope that Cuddy comes back alive.

Wilson sighed heavily when the elevator doors closed with Cuddy inside them. Just then, a security guard yelled down for Wilson to come back. It sounded urgent, so Wilson did so.

"What is it?" he asked.

Just then, one of the guards walked out and was holding Rachel. Wilson's eyes widened. "We found her in the adjoining bathroom," he said, rocking the cooing, wide-eyed baby who had no idea what was going on. She laughed and swung her tiny arms around.

"Son of a bitch," Wilson whispered.

Brendan snuck into the room to hide Rachel, knowing that if Cuddy didn't find her, she would try to find him. He took a chance in hiding the baby in the bathroom so he could get a hold of Cuddy. Wilson lowered his head with a sigh. He just hoped that Cuddy could take care of herself.

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Cuddy's heart beat so loudly in her chest that she swore it echoed off the walls of the elevator and made the ride down to the main floor louder than usual. She didn't know about them finding Rachel and was still under the impression that Brendan had her.

Where was he? She was sure that he knew she was in the elevator. He seems to know her every move somehow. Was he risking to be seen out here? If he was caught on camera, they would know where he was and immediately come get him.

Suddenly, the elevator jolted, scaring Cuddy. A horrendous grinding plowed through the walls, sounding as if someone was cutting the cables that supported the elevator. She backed up against the wall, holding the rail tightly as the lights flickered. Was this a setup? Did Brendan plan to hurt her? Was she so naïve that she didn't see it coming?

Cuddy gasped as the bottom of the elevator shook so violently that she almost lost her balance. This was not happening.

"Brendan!" she cried out. If he really was doing this, he had more power over her than she thought.

As quickly as the shaking and tremors came about, it stopped, but so did the elevator. She heard one last grinding of metal on metal and that was it. The elevator came to a halt and the emergency buzzer sounded. Cuddy, visibly afraid, looked around, expecting him to come from the ceiling or the floor somehow. At some point during this, tears gathered in her eyes. She wasn't aware until her vision became blurry. Afraid to take any sort of movement for the fear of the elevator shaking again, she stayed in the same spot.

"Brendan," she said a lot quieter. "I know you're here somewhere."

She gasped and her head shot up when there was another mild bang at the top of the elevator. Cuddy backed up to the corner away from the sound. Someone was up there, walking around. The emergency grate was lifted after minor trouble and in dropped Brendan ever so casually, as if there was nothing wrong with what he was doing.

"Sorry about the shaking. I had to stop the elevator before you got to the bottom floor and almost did it too late."

He walked towards her and Cuddy backed herself up against the wall so tightly that every inch of her backside touched it, even her legs.

"Relax, Lisa, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Actions speak a lot louder than words," Cuddy said, heart pounding in her ears. "What did you do with Rachel?"

"The kid? Oh, she's fine. They found her in the room right after you got into the elevator. The timing worked out so perfectly that you'd swear this was a movie. You know, that makes me wonder. If they did a movie on this, who do you think would play me? Who would play you? I'm guessing maybe Sasha Alexander if she dyes her hair darker and wears blue contacts."

Cuddy shook her head. Tears started coming now without her consent. "Brendan, please, just let me go."

"The perfect boyfriend turns into an angry, jealous person, but yet the girl still loves him because he was just so dreamy and handsome and she's never had that happen to her before. He says everything she wants to hear and captures her so wonderfully in his web. It was almost too easy, Lisa."

"You fell in love with me, too, Brendan," she whispered.

He smiled. "Yes, I sure did." His eyes scanned her from head to toes and licked his lips. "Oh…yes I most certainly did. And I still do. You still love me?"

Cuddy said nothing. His eyes met hers just in time to see a tear fall from her eye. Her bottom lip quivered.

He closed in on her, trapping her in the corner with his body. Cuddy felt suffocated. He lifted her chin with a crooked finger. "Oh this is just too easy. I knew you still did."

Cuddy's eyes narrowed. "You son of a bitch, I'll never love you."

She connected her knee with his groin after timing it right and making sure it would succeed. She did it as hard as she possibly could, which resulted in him falling to his knees, squealing like a little boy. She didn't have time to admire her work. Instead, she stepped quickly up to the instrument panel and pounded the emergency button with the palm of her hand. When that didn't work, she called for help, telling him that Brendan was in the elevator with her and to hurry. She got a response just as Brendan came to. He was still in pain, so his strength was a little off. He grabbed her by the arm and slammed her against the wall so hard that when her head hit it, she saw stars. His eyes were no longer big baby blues, but cold and grey. It's like when she kneed him there, she broke a barrier and brought out the devil. She felt his hands enclose around her throat. Instead of the stars going away, they remained there.

"When you awaken, you'll be in hell," he growled into her face, hands tightening.

"Then you'll be right there with me, bastard," she managed to choke out while clawing his hands with her nails and kicking her legs up at him. Her head throbbed, her windpipe felt like it was going to break in two, and choking commenced, but she still wouldn't give up. Soon, it's like she was looking through tunnel vision. Everything got smaller and darker as her air supply was cut off and the lack of oxygen went to her brain.

This was it. She was never going to see House or her baby again. She let them down, even though she tried to fight. Wilson was right to have wanted to go with her. She was so adolescent into thinking that Brendan wouldn't hurt her. He would if he had to. She didn't see that when she should've. The only thing on her mind was getting Rachel back. She walked right into this.

Just then, his hands suddenly removed themselves from around her throat. Cuddy sank to her knees, gasping and coughing so hard that she nearly vomited. The reason he stopped was that the elevator started moving again, heading down to the main floor. Cuddy knew that Brendan was seconds away from trying to make his escape back up into the elevator shaft. Even though she was weak from the near fainting experience, she was determined to stop him. She knew that if she could make him falter at least a little, he wouldn't escape so easily. If she sat here and did nothing, they might never catch him. He deserved to be caught.

Cuddy used all her strength to pick herself up and before he could jump back up into the shaft, she hurled herself at him, causing him to slam into the corner of the elevator, slowing him down big time. She put her arms around him, holding onto him for dear life. Her grip was weak and it showed. He very easily shook her off, but Cuddy stayed strong. Whenever he pushed her off, she would grab another part of him. She did anything to keep him at bay until the elevator reached the bottom floor. At one point, she grabbed his shirt. She did all this while continuing to cough. Brendan was getting desperate. He didn't have time to waste. He should've already been up into the shaft, getting away. Instead, he was fighting with Cuddy.

Thinking about his own survival, he took her by the arms and flung her easily into the wall. Cuddy lost her balance and slammed her head on the railing on the way down to the ground. The second she hit the ground, the doors opened and security rushed in. Cuddy was awake to witness it, but barely. Her mind begged her to shut her eyes. Security poured in like oil and overpowered Brendan. She couldn't see anything, for the security officers were in the way. She did, however, hear a lot. Most of it was yelling, telling Brendan to relax and stop fighting them. They also reminded him that he was caught and he would be spending a lot of time behind bars. Cuddy couldn't help but smile through half lidded eyes.

She did it.

She suddenly felt a pair of strong arms around her. "Lisa, my god, are you okay? We were so worried about you!"

The elevator was empty when she opened her eyes again. She got nervous. There was no one there. Where was the voice coming from?

"Where is he?" she asked, her mind racing, but her voice coming out in low murmurs as she tried to sit up, but couldn't, because of the arms around her.

"Don't worry, Lisa, he won't be bothering you anymore. He's where he should be."

Evidently, Cuddy had been knocked unconscious, because the next thing she knew, she wasn't in the elevator shaft, but in a room of her own, hooked up to machinery. Her vision faded from the elevator shaft to the recovery room as if her mind was giving her a slideshow with bright white lights. Wilson was the one at her side, holding her in a hug. Cuddy responded as best she could after realizing this wasn't a dream and that she really was safe after all.

"Is he gone?" Cuddy whispered, grasping his shirt into a light fist. She got her answer already, but just needed to be reassured.

"Yes, they took him away. Goddamn it Lisa, I told you I should've gone with you. Don't ever do something that stupid again. You almost left us."

Cuddy's head hurt like crazy and she could feel a bump in the back of her head without physically touching it. She almost left them? Right, she was unconscious. Maybe they thought it was worse than it looked.

"I'm sorry, Wilson." She hugged back. "Is House okay? Rachel?"

Speak of the devil, House was being wheeled in just as she asked about them. In his arms, he held her bundle of joy, who was sleeping peacefully. Cuddy nearly cried at the beautiful picturesque moment.

"So should I yell at you now or later for just taking off like that?" House asked as a nurse wheeled him up to her bedside. "Keep in mind, that'll be JUST for that. The punishment for getting yourself beat up will come after that."

Wilson helped Cuddy sit up. She was able to sit up okay, but her back hurt her a little bit. Black and blue marks were noticeable around her neck. House didn't question it right away. He guessed that was part of the reason why they thought she wouldn't make it. When they told him that she might have complications involving a semi-crushed larynx and possible brainstem trauma, House didn't want to hear it. He blocked it out of his mind and kept telling himself that Cuddy wouldn't leave this world over something that stupid. It would take a lot for her to give up the fight. House found out this information from the security before they left. Doctors later confirmed it. Finally, six hours later, Cuddy wakes up. Evidently, she had already woken up, which caused Wilson to call House and have him come up here. She officially woke up right before House came in.

Wilson left the room to give them some time alone. House was still scowling at the mark around her neck. "Damn son of a bitch is lucky if I don't get out of this chair and go down to the cell where they're keeping his sorry ass and beat him into a pulp."

Cuddy took Rachel into her arms and rocked her gently after kissing her forehead. "No, House, I just want to forget about him. I'm so sorry for putting you through what I did. You were right about him from the start. I should've listened to you."

"The only one you were going to listen to was yourself. You had to come to terms with it on your own time. It happens to us all."

"Not to me. Well, at least it'll never happen again. I know what I want now."

"Do you? What do you want, Cuddy?" he asked her softly. He wasn't going to bring this up either, but after today's events, and the events leading up to a month ago, he figured life was too short. With that asshole behind bars, hopefully for life, and Cuddy expecting to make a full recovery in about a few days or so, he wanted to tell her how he felt. Last time was just a trial run.

"House, you shouldn't stand," Cuddy said, worried about his leg.

"Don't worry about it; I have enough morphine flowing through my system that it doesn't even hurt."

Cuddy moved over so he could sit beside her comfortably. He had his right leg stretched out in front of him and the left one hanging off the bed.

Rachel was still asleep. Cuddy laid her at the end of the bed, covering her up with part of her blanket. She sighed. "I can't believe he tricked me like that. Rachel was in the bathroom all along."

"I know. We tried to call you back."

"But I'm glad I went after him. I'm glad he was caught."

"You didn't know this was all that would happen to you, Cuddy. You could be dead. He could've killed you."

"Small price to pay to be sure that you and Rachel were okay."

"So she could grow up without a mother? So I could go on knowing that all the memories I have of you are you bitching at me about checking out your ass and berating me when I'm not doing what I was told to do?"

Cuddy chuckled. "It's more like the other way around, but yeah. Good thing those don't have to be the last memories. To be honest, I just want to start over."

House reached out and cupped her cheek, running his thumb gently around the area and over her lips. The small action made Cuddy's heart leap. They both leaned in for a kiss, but Cuddy went the extra few inches and connected their lips together. It was gentle and soft at first with House running both hands through her hair, but then he cupped her cheeks and deepened it. Cuddy moaned through the kiss. She couldn't help it. Her mind was swimming with so much love and honor for House that her body started to have a mind of its own.

Soon, they broke apart to breathe, resting their foreheads together. House's fingers threaded through her hair again.

"I love you, Lisa Cuddy," he whispered, his hot breath tickling her lips. "I want to start over with you."

Hearing him say that was the most beautiful thing she's ever heard. It was like music to her ears, give or take a few clichés.

"I love you too, Gregory House," she said back, reaching in for another kiss.

This was the start of something good.

Life is too short to wait.

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**That's all, folks. Thanks for joining me for the ride! Let me know what you think. :)**


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